More Than Just Friends
by Nat DC
Summary: A story about two best friends, Percy and Annabeth, who discover their true feelings for each other after a horrible accident. Percy is living just a normal high school life when an accident causes him to be hospitalized. At least, it was thought of as an accident...
1. Chapter 1

**Hello Everyone! So this is my first fanfic I have EVER written but when this idea for a story came to me I knew I had to share it with all of you PJ fans! Reviews are much appreciated :)**

* * *

 **Percy's POV:**

Hi, my name is Percy Jackson; Swim Team Captain for St. Anthony's High School and New York Aquarium Volunteer. This is the story about the craziest week I've ever had and how I discovered that me and my best friend were more than just friends…

* * *

I was walking up 59th Street towards my best friend, Annabeth's, apartment building. She said she would be home at 4:00 P.M. but I wanted to get there a little early so I could surprise her with everything prepared for us to study (and maybe some sandwiches while I was at it). She's been studying hard for not only **her** exams, but **mine** too.

You see, we both know that if she passes the exams she'll be accepted into Cornell University, but I'd have to **ace** the exams in order to get in; crazy right!? I've been studying non-stop for the past 2 weeks, trying to prepare, and Annabeth's been helping me every step of the way. No way we were going to go to separate colleges! We met in 1st grade and have been best friends ever since, I can't stand the thought of school without her; let alone college!

Now don't go shipping us ladies and gentlemen; literally everyone in our class thinks we have thing for each other but we **both** agree that we are just friends and nothing will change that.

Anyway, I was about to cross the street to get to her apartment when someone caught the corner of my eye; Annabeth! She was crossing the same street all the way on the other side of the walkway (which was at the bottom of the hill we were on)! Her wavy, blond hair was tied up into a high ponytail and it looked like she was listening to music on her MP3 Player.

Anyway, it really looked like she was jamming out to some music (because her eyes were closed and her head was bobbing as she strolled across the street) but before I turned to cross the street with her, I saw that there was a huge pickup truck speeding up the hill and towards where Annabeth was crossing!

She was crossing the street, oblivious to the enormous truck coming her way!

"Annabeth! ANNABETH! _ANNABETH_!"

I yelled to her as loud as I could but she couldn't hear me; she was _ALL_ the way on the other side of the road! I was yelling to her and sprinting all the way down the hill but I wasn't sure if I would be able to make it in time before the truck hit her!

The ginormous truck was going at like 100 MPH, up the hill heading straight for Annabeth! Couldn't the driver clearly see the 17-year-old girl crossing the street!? I **had** to run faster or I wouldn't make it in time!

I was going at full speed but I was **still** not close enough to warn her! Then something caught my eye; a skateboard! There was a plain brown skateboard leaned up against a fence post! I abruptly stopped running, snatched the skateboard and road down the hill with it, kicking my feet against the pavement as much as I could to gain more speed (if you're wondering how I know so much about skateboarding I was actually a skateboard enthusiast when I was like, 10, but I eventually gave up and took up my love of swimming instead).

Anyway, the skateboard was really doing me good; I was going at least twice as fast as when I was running! I stopped right behind where Annabeth was crossing the street (she was 10 feet in front of me; man, I never noticed how large this street was!) I looked to my right and saw the truck; still going full speed up the road! There was no sign it was going to stop or even slow down!

"Annabeth! HEY!"

Surprisingly, she still couldn't hear me! She must've had her music on at full volume!

I ran across the street.

The truck was barely 10 feet away and coming this way!

I was almost within arm's reach of Annabeth when my foot slipped and I fell right on top of her!

"What the!? Percy? What are you-"

There was no time for questions; I shoved her out of the way.

There was a loud blare of a horn. It must've been coming from the truck, but I didn't have time to find out. Seconds after I pushed Annabeth out of the way I felt a horrible pain in both my shoulders and back, as if all of my bones in that part of the body had cracked. Before I knew it, I was flat on my back and I heard someone scream before my vision became blurry and I blacked out.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello everyone! I am so, so glad everyone enjoyed the first chapter to this series! Remember, reviews are greatly appreciated and let's just start with the story (this chapter's gonna be a long one)**

* * *

 **Percy's POV:**

I never thought I would experience a greater pain than when I broke my nose that one time at the pool (I dived in at a low level of the pool and hit my nose on the cement floor- ouch)

I was wrong.

My vision cleared and staring down at me was my mother and Annabeth. It looked like Annabeth was crying and my mother was talking to some other guy in the room; probably the doctor.

"Look he's waking up!" said Annabeth.

"Well, young man you gave us quite a scare." said the doctor.

I tried to get up but instantly regretted it; there were multiple sharp pains coming from my neck, shoulders and arms. There was a bulky white cast around my neck and my arms were also in casts but they were hanging from 2 pieces of strings coming from the ceiling. My mother and the doctor instantly sat up and eased me back onto the pillow.

"Percy, you're gonna be here for a while. The doctor said you broke your arms and your neck!" said my mother.

"I'll leave you alone" said the doctor. He left through a door on the right side of the room.

"Annabeth, do you mind staying here with Percy? I have to get back to the bakery or Mr. Maggony will have a fit" my mother said with a sigh.

"No problem Miss Jackson" Annabeth said.

My mom exited through the door and I was alone with Annabeth in the room.

"How are you doing?"

"Ok, I guess. My shoulders hurt" My throat was dry and scratchy- how long was I out!?

"Do you need some water? Your voice sounds hoarse" Annabeth said as if she was reading my mind.

"Yeah, thanks."

Annabeth sat up and walked towards the far left of the room where her orange bag was sitting on a coffee table right where there was a huge window that panned over the entire left wall. She fished through it and brought out a water bottle.

"Here you go. You're throat's probably so dry by now..."

"Thanks. How long was I out?"

"Um...you've been out since yesterday..." she said quietly.

"What!?"

She sat down and suddenly began to cry.

"I'm so sorry Percy! This is all my fault; if I hadn't been so careless you wouldn't be here" Tears were falling down her face in streams.

"Annabeth, calm down. I don't blame you for any of this. It was a freak accident; I mean the person we really should be blaming is that stupid truck driver!"

"But that's just it Percy! See after you...got hit, I ran to my house to call 911, because _somehow_ my phone was dead even though I charged it before I left Luke's house! Anyway, I came back with my dad and the truck driver was gone! Just _**gone**_!"

A tiny flame of anger started in me when she said "Luke". See, Luke is this guy at our high school that's been dating Annabeth for a few months. At first he seemed cool, but when I entered the National Swimming Competition a couple months back, he started acting really annoyed and rude around me. I just ignored it but when the big day of the finals came around things got bad. During the competition, he started slapping and hitting me under the water as we swam! I still won, but I was so appalled that he would do something like that, all for a stupid trophy. Nobody believed me about Luke anyway, and I didn't bother mentioning it to Annabeth, but I avoided him from then on.

I focused back on the task at hand. "What do you mean gone? Didn't you get a look at him before you ran to your house?"

"No I didn't...I was panicking and I should've thought to check out the truck driver before running away like that...I'm so stupid..."

"No you're not."

"YES I AM!" More and more tears were falling down her cheeks. A few minutes passed and she eventually composed herself.

"I'm sorry."

"Annabeth, whoever's fault this is, it's not yours, ok? Now, are the police looking into who drove that truck?"

"Well when the ambulance arrived, they didn't believe me about the truck driver."

"What!?"

"Yeah, they said it was more likely that the truck rolled down the hill and hit you".

"But that doesn't make any sense! We both saw it with our own eyes-"

"I know but that's what they are going with and not much will change their minds unless they find something inside the truck that'll prove them wrong."

"Well, I guess that's it then."

"Not necessarily."

"Huh?"

"Well, after we got you to the hospital and I called your mom and told her what happened they told me to leave for the night and that they would let me know when you woke up."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. So I went home and while I was on my way there I saw that the truck that hit you was still there!"

"Wow. Those policemen sure are sloppy."

"I know right. Anyway, I thought that maybe if I took a peak at the license plate, I could track it to its owner."

"That's genius Annabeth!"

"Thanks. Only problem is I stayed up all night looking for the owner and I still haven't found any leads. I checked multiple websites that track license plates but still no luck."

"Wow you sound like some sort of private investigator!"

Annabeth smiled. "You know I want to be an architect, Percy."

"I know but what you're doing reminds me of those cop shows on TV."

"You're just trying to make me feel better."

"I'm serious."

Annabeth suddenly leaned towards me and put her arms around my neck.

"What are you doing?" I said with a laugh.

"I'm trying to hug you" She started giggling too.

"Why?" This whole time we've been talking, I've noticed no pain from my body; I just enjoyed talking to her so much, it took my mind off of everything else.

"Percy, what you did was so brave. Stupid, but brave."

"Thanks"

She leaned back and smiled down at me; her storm grey eyes shining from the setting sunlight coming out of the window. She looked so beautiful even though all her makeup was smeared from when she was crying. But, I didn't mind; she still looked amazing.

I was going to say something when, suddenly, something buzzed. She fished through her bag and brought out her phone.

"Aw man. I have to go, Percy. Luke's wondering where I'm at."

That tiny flame of fire in me got a little bigger. "It's ok Annabeth. Go ahead, it's getting late anyway."

"Are you sure you're gonna be ok?"

"Yeah I'm sure."

"Here. I have an idea."

She fished through her bag the third time that day and brought out a small walkie-talkie.

"What's this?" I said with a laugh.

"It's a walkie-talkie!" her ears turned bright red.

"Hey, I didn't mean to make fun of your toy."

"It's ok" she said with a chuckle, "I have this in my bag because of Bobby and Matthew. Boys are always leaving their toys in my bag. Anyway, you can use this to talk to me if you get bored. The doctors said you're gonna have to stay here for a couple of weeks before you're allowed to leave."

"Ok, Thanks" I was still smiling from the thought of contacting Annabeth via walkie-talkie. "Why can't I just use my phone to call you?"

"Well...your phone got crushed when you got hit. The ambulance found it all in bits when they took you to the hospital."

"Oh."

"I can buy you a new one, if you want."

"Annabeth, it's alright. That model was old anyway. This gives me an excuse to save up for the newest model." I started chuckling again.

She started chuckling too. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow morning." She set down the small walkie-talkie on the table beside my bed.

"Well, see ya later Wise Girl." I guess this was one reason everyone thought we were dating; we called each other names.

"Bye Seaweed Brain" she said with a laugh.

She left the room and I was alone with my scattered thoughts. Hopefully, Annabeth tracked that license plate soon and we could find out exactly who hit me. Until then, I knew I could talk to her anytime I liked.

And I would learn soon enough that this walkie-talkie would come in handy more than I initially thought it would.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey everyone! I'm glad everyone's enjoying this series so far! Remember, suggestions and comments are much appreciated and I hope you enjoy Chapter 3! :)**

* * *

 **Percy's POV**

After a few days, I started to feel comfortable at the hospital. The nurses would always come in to bring me food and check up on how I was doing. They were really nice and asked me about Annabeth - who came over after school everyday. I always told them we weren't dating but I had a slight feeling that they didn't believe me because of how they grinned over their shoulders every time they saw Annabeth coming into my room.

I really enjoyed when Annabeth came over, though. I mean just talking to her in general took my mind off of the constant boredom that I had at the hospital. Don't get me wrong, the nurses were really nice and considerate all the time, but I just missed how things used to be - the old routine of me going to school, talking to my friends at the swim team, helping my mom around the house on weekends, volunteering at the aquarium on Sundays and just my overall life. To be honest, all there really was to do at the hospital was talk to the nurses, eat, sleep and think. But when Annabeth was around she always made the place a hundred times more fun, even though I was confined in bed for the next couple of weeks.

One Friday afternoon, I was lost in thought, waiting for Annabeth to arrive (she always arrived at 4:00 PM every week day). Suddenly, I was awoken from my thoughts by the loud _BEEPBEEP_ that came from the walkie-talkie. Annabeth was calling!

I picked up the walkie-talkie and pressed the button on the left side of it. "Hey Annabeth, what's up?"

"Hey Percy" her voice was a little scratchy from the poor quality of the walkie-talkie but still understandable "Listen, I don't think I can come over tonight. Luke and I have plans."

"Oh." The tiny flame of anger that I had been feeling a lot lately from her mentioning Luke got a lot bigger, "What plans?"

"Well we were thinking of studying for Chem at his house and then watching a movie together and then I have to be home by 8 tonight so I don't think I can come over afterward. I'm really sorry; but I promise I'll come over tomorrow!"

"Ok, that's fine."

"Are you sure you're ok?"

"Yeah I'm sure. Have fun with Luke."

"Ok. I'll see you tomorrow then. Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

The walkie-talkie went quiet and I slumped my head back onto the pillow. The fire in me wouldn't go away from hearing Luke's name. I seriously didn't know what was wrong with me. _So what if he cheated at the swim competition?,_ I thought, _He's still Annabeth's boyfriend._

The thing is, that thought just made me angrier.

I spent the night like this, just going in and out of my thoughts. One of the nurses, Kira, came in and brought me dinner; ravioli, some salad and a tiny chocolate. I ate the ravioli, some of the salad and saved the chocolate for last. Fridays were always my favorite when it came to dinner because they always served the best food, in my opinion.

The sun was setting and, since there were no curtains on the giant window that covered the entire left wall, it made the room really dark all at once. At 9 PM, the lights went off in the hallways and the entire hospital was plunged into darkness and stillness.

It was kind of hard to fall asleep just because of the awkward position my arms were in from being hung from the ceiling (the nurses said they did that to keep the blood flowing but isn't there a more comfortable way of doing it?)

But, eventually, I gradually drifted into sleep.

* * *

 _I dreamed that I was on a picnic. I was sitting on a hill that overlooked the entire city of New York. Somehow, it was night down in the city (the lights from the skyscrapers were twinkling in the dark atmosphere) but a beautiful, sunny afternoon on the hill!_

 _Anyway, there was a nice basket full of food; triangle sandwiches (like the kind you would see in TV shows when a couple would go on a picnic), a bowl of strawberries (still getting those TV date vibes), some Coke and some water bottles._

 _I was sitting on a cliché red-and-white plaid picnic mat and I was shaded from the sunlight by a beautiful cherry blossom tree that was right next to the set-up. There were multiple blossoms spread all about the tree's bushy foliage; small red and white buds peaking out from the dark green leaves._

 _Everything was so beautiful, peaceful and serene; the only thing I was confused about was who was I having a picnic with?_

 _Suddenly there was a rustling in the bushes(which I could've sworn weren't there a moment ago) and out came a beautiful girl. She was wearing beige platform sandals, a short, plain white dress and owl earrings. Her dirty blond hair was pulled up into a high ponytail with loose pieces of hair falling to frame her face. Her lips had cherry red lipstick on them and her stormy grey eyes looked shiny from the reflection of the bright sunlight._

 _That's when I realized that I was having a date with Annabeth._

 _"Hi Percy."_

 _Her voice sounded melodious and I swore I heard angels singing in the background as she walked towards me and took a seat on the mat._

 _She turned her head towards me "This is perfect" she said._

 _I couldn't agree more._

 _Suddenly, the air got really chilly and the sun was consumed by darkness. The wind was howling furiously; I wouldn't have been surprised if the entire hill got swooped away by the violent wind storm. Everything was turning misty and hazy, consumed by dark grey fog. Even Annabeth was being taken over by the darkness; her soft and gentle voice turned terrified as she screamed for me to do something._

 _Suddenly her screaming stopped; I opened my eyes and saw that I was all alone in a giant, endless void of black and empty space._

* * *

I woke with a start.

I was lying in a very uncomfortable position on the white-sheeted bed in my hospital room. My face was drenched with sweat; as if I had run a 20-mile marathon in my sleep. My throat was as dry as the first day I had awoken in this same bed, when I had spent more than day in a dreamless state of sleep.

 _It was a nightmare, that's all it was_ , I thought to myself. I was really surprised by this nightmare; I mean, I don't usually get nightmares much and when I do they are never as vivid and real as the one I just had.

I looked up and saw that it was still really dark inside and outside the hospital. It looked like it was a clear night, I could see little spots of bright stars coming from the sky.

I slumped my head back into bed. _What was up with the first part of my dream?,_ I thought. The part where I was having a picnic with **Annabeth**. I wasn't sure how I felt about this; half of me felt guilty for even dreaming that it could happen and half of me felt wistful. I kind of thought it would be nice to be on a picnic with Annabeth, like _really nice_. We could listen to music, talk, laugh and just have a good time...

 _Chill Percy,_ I thought to myself _She has a boyfriend. It would be weird if we had a picnic, even if it wasn't meant as a date. Besides you don't like her_ that _way._

Right?

I was snapped back to reality when I heard something in the corner of the room, right where the door was. The nurses always left the doors open in all the rooms, even at nights ("Air circulation", they always said when I asked about it).

It was pitch black in the room but I could've sworn I saw something move from the corner of my eye right where the noise had come from.

I sat there with my eyes wide open until I decided to just fall back asleep. Before I could close my eyes, however, a tall, dark figure loomed over the foot of my bed.

My heart started racing and I could feel beads of sweat falling down my cheeks.

I gulped "H-Hello?"

Suddenly the figure moved forward and all of a sudden I couldn't breathe. My face felt hot and suffocated and I was trying to push the person off of me. I was struggling so much that both of my arms fell slack next to me; the string holding them up had broken. I was squirming around trying to gather the strength to punch this guy in the gut but I discovered that the guy was pinning my arms down.

This person was trying to kill me!

I screamed over and over until my throat was starting to strain but each and every scream got muffled by the giant pillow the guy was covering my face with. I tried to kick the guy but he held me down every time I moved! My lungs were screaming for air and I wasn't sure if I could hold on for another minute. This guy was holding down my entire lower body, he knew it was only a matter of time until I gave out and he didn't want me kicking him the face.

That's when I had the idea.

The walkie-talkie.

It was lying on the table beside my bed, right where I had left it when Annabeth called me.

Annabeth.

I pushed aside the extreme pain from both of my arms and lifted them to feel around for the walkie-talkie. I could tell the guy knew I was trying to reach for something because he punched me square in the stomach to stop me.

I seriously thought I was gonna die when I felt the walkie-talkie in my hands.

I grasped it and pressed the left button on the side of the device. I used every ounce of my energy to push against this guy to get the pillow off of my face; just by a centimeter so I could get enough air to call for help (and maybe live for a couple more minutes).

"Somebody. Anybody. Help me. Someone's trying to kill me. HELP!"

I felt an enormous pain in my nose and the whole world turned to darkness as I felt the walkie-talkie slip out of my hands.


	4. Chapter 4

Hello all writers! Here's the next chapter to this ongoing saga; BTW: I took all of the reviews that I received in mind, this chapter won't be so plot-heavy (well most of it anyway...) Enjoy! ( **Also, P.S., there is a decent amount of kissing in this chapter just as a forewarning** )

* * *

 **Annabeth's POV**

I set down the walkie-talkie. _That wasn't so bad, now was it?,_ I thought to myself.

I still felt like Percy was a little upset I couldn't come over today; I mean he told me himself that he thought that the hospital was as boring as the library on a Friday night (to which I responded with a stink eye). But I'm sure he'll be fine for the night and then we can hang out all day tomorrow since I have no studying to do (which hasn't happened to me in a while).

I tried to shake my guilt about ditching Percy and focused on trying to get to Luke's house without almost getting hit by another truck (like I need another boy in the hospital because of me).

I turned on the corner of 3rd Avenue and walked on the side of the road towards Luke's house.

His house wasn't much bigger than mine; it was painted white and a faded cream color, with a Victorian-style flare to it. I don't know why, but I always get a shiver down my back when I stare at his house for too long. Maybe it's because of the giant, dead tree in the front; with its ominous-looking branches hovering over the top of the house.

Or maybe it's because the first time I visited his house, there was a violent storm brewing and, while I was rushing to get inside before I was swept away with the wind, I could've sworn I saw someone standing at the doorway, just staring at me with dark, hollow eyes. In the blink of an eye, the silhouette was gone and I instantly ran inside.

Nonetheless, I knocked on the door (Luke told me his mom couldn't afford a doorbell) and, eventually, a tall boy with sandy blond hair and pale blue eyes answered the door.

"Hey Annabeth" he said with a flirty tone to his voice.

"Hi Luke. Sorry I'm late" I said, stepping inside. A waft of dust entered my nostrils. It's not like it was dirty inside; his house was just always really musty, possibly due to all of the carpeted floors.

"It's ok", he said as he grabbed my hand and kissed my fingertips like a prince (as if I was a princess). He walked me up the carpeted stairs to his small bedroom.

His bedroom consisted of a bed that squeaked when you sat on it, a table with a book and an empty picture frame on it, his backpack with swim team medals clasped onto the front and a dusty, old comforter chair (not to mention the clothes strewn all over the floor).

Ok, so maybe I was mistaken about his house being clean.

"Sorry" he said, walking inside "I got home a few minutes before you arrived. I didn't have time to clean." He frantically started picking up all of his clothing and throwing them onto the top of his bed.

I smiled "It's ok. Here, I'll help." I got on all fours, just as he did, and we started picking up all of the clothing off the floor and throwing them on the bed.

Once all of the clothing was off of the floor and the gray carpet was visible, I pulled out my Chemistry textbook.

"Woah. Why the textbook?" he said with a sly smile.

"Didn't you call me over so we could study for the Chemistry exam on Monday?", I said slightly confused.

"Yeah... but that was before I knew we were **both** gonna get together late. Speaking of which; why were you late?"

"Well...I had to call Percy to tell him that I couldn't visit him at the hospital tonight" I said quietly. Luke frowned when I said Percy's name.

See, they don't really get along. I'm almost positive it has something to do with Luke losing to Percy at the National Swim Competition a couple months back at school. I can't imagine why he would be so upset about it, though, considering how many swim medals he has collected over the years. So what if he lost _one time_? He shouldn't have a hatred for Percy just because of that, but I can't imagine why else he would frown at the slight mention of his name.

"So Fish Boy still at the hospital?" he said with a slight annoyance to his voice.

"Please don't call him that and yes he's still at the hospital. The doctors said he has to stay there for about 6 weeks and then he'll be allowed to leave."

"Bummer" Luke said, getting up and stretching his arms "Well, how about that movie?"

"Okay, fine."

"But first..." He walked towards me slowly and tossed his arms around my neck.

"Ugh Luke", I said with exhaustion in my voice "why do we always have to do this right before we do **anything** at your house?"

It was actually pretty funny when you thought about it; Luke would always insist we make out before we got to do anything at his house. Time for lunch? Let's make out over the peanut butter sandwiches your mom just made. Time to leave? Let's kiss before I walk out the front door.

"Because I like kissing you" he said as if it were obvious. He leaned in closer and I could smell his minty breath as our lips touched. He hugged me tightly and, after what seemed like longer than five minutes (which was our normal timeslot when it came to kissing) his lips parted away from mine.

But then he leaned in again and we repeated the process, only this time he deliberately fell onto his bed, bringing me down with him. His bed made a sudden squeak sound as we wrestled on top of the covers. We hadn't done this before and I was kind of nervous; I have no idea why, but I just liked it when we had a constraint on our kissing and now it seemed he was breaking our unspoken rule by doing this.

At this point I had enough; I pulled him away from me.

"What!?" he said.

"Luke" I said gasping for air " We're never going to be able to watch all of the movie if we just play around in here all night." This was an excuse of course; an alternative to "Get your lips away from me".

He sighed. He shook his head and ran his fingers through his hair like he was trying to figure out why he did what he did. "Sorry. It's just..."

"I know, you like kissing me"

"Yeah." he said with a slight chuckle. He got off of the bed and we both walked downstairs.

I made popcorn while he got the movie set up.

"It's called 'Rocky Relationships'", Luke was saying when I asked what movie we were watching, "I think you'll enjoy it."

He wasn't wrong; I thoroughly enjoyed the movie! It was about a lady detective who was solving a case about a man who was almost murdered 3 times. The first time the man was run over by a pick-up truck; the second time the man was almost suffocated to death in his own hospital bed; and the third time...well we were getting to that.

The detective, Kathryn Cobell, had just figured out who was trying to kill her client, Mr. Horesh. She was racing to the hospital; she had a gut feeling the criminal was about to strike again.

"Annabeth..." Luke's voice startled me; I guess I was really into the movie.

"Yeah?"

"You-You love me right?" Now that was the **last** question I thought I'd hear out of Luke's mouth.

"What kind of question is that?" Seriously, I was baffled at what brought on this question.

"Just answer the question. Please." His voice cracked at "Please". _What was going on with him?_

Detective Cobell just made it to the hospital and raced up the steps to Room 101. The door was locked. She frantically pulled out a bobby pin from her caramel-brown hair and tried to jimmy the lock with the point of it; a few seconds later and the door opened with a _Click._

I turned back to Luke and could've sworn I saw a tear race down his cheek. His pale blue eyes were glistening and reflecting the light coming from the TV and I could see the tiny, but visible, scar that was on his chin. I heard a rumbling from outside; sounded like a storm was brewing.

I turned my head back to the movie. Detective Cowell was pleading with the criminal who was none other than the man's own brother; Josh. He was holding a small pocket knife in his hands and looked crazy enough to kill.

 _"Why would you do this, Josh? Why would you throw your whole life away and kill your own brother?"_ Cowell was clearly trying to buy time for the police to arrive; meanwhile Mr. Horesh was feverishly trying to stand up and protect the detective; but all tries were in vain due to his legs being temporarily paralyzed from the waist down because of the accident just 4 days before.

 _"I-I-He TOOK MY GIRLFRIEND AWAY FROM ME! HE IS SO MUCH BETTER AT **EVERYTHING** THAN ME AND I HATE IT" _ Josh's voice was breaking and it looked like he was about to have a stroke right there, with the knife being held firmly in his hands.

"Annabeth, do you love me..?" Luke's voice rang in my ear and I wasn't sure if I was remembering the question or if he was repeating it. Suddenly a giant crackle of lightning flashed through the windows and I heard an enormous _BOOM!_ coming from outside. I instantaneously jumped and Luke flinched.

Suddenly I wondered what time it was. My eyes grew wide as I checked my watch; 8:15.

"Oh my gosh, Luke!"

"What?" It looked like he was just awoken from a trance. His face snapped back into a focused expression instead of that faraway look he's had during most of the movie.

"I promised my dad I'd be home by 8; him and my stepmom are going out for dinner and I promised I'd watch the boys!"

Luke muted the TV. "Well go ahead, I'll see you later, ok?"

I packed my textbook inside my bag and slung it over my shoulders. I pecked Luke on the cheek and walked out the front door onto the porch.

I looked up at the sky; it was dark and windy. The clouds were moving north, away from the city; maybe it would clear up by the time I got home.

I jogged all the way back home and used my house key to get in. I looked in the living room and saw my dad and my stepmom sitting on the couch. My dad spotted me and gave me one of his disappointed looks. I explained to them that I lost track of time (and all of those other excuses) and my dad seemed cool with it.

"Only 15 minutes", he said with a wave of his hand.

But my stepmom was another matter; she always was.

Anyway, they soon left and I was alone with the boys. I played some board games with them (Scrabble was their favorite) and gave them some leftover salad and mac 'n cheese for dinner. They begged me for dessert with those puppy dog eyes and I eventually caved in and gave them some ice cream.

They soon fell asleep on the couch and I ended up carrying them to bed (they always did this so that they wouldn't have to walk upstairs; the little devils)

I went into my room and I suddenly realized how exhausted I was. I fell down onto my bed and closed my eyes.

 _What was up with Luke?_ I thought. He was just so...off today. The kissing thing, the "Do you love me?" the faraway look he had on his face throughout the entire day...were they connected? Did something happen at school that I wasn't aware of? Was there something wrong?

All of these questions raced through my mind as I drifted into sleep.

* * *

I woke with a start.

I have no idea what snapped me back awake; I wasn't dreaming (at least I didn't think I was) and there was no storm outside; in fact the dark, night sky looked very clear, with the stars twinkling in the moonlight.

I turned my head and saw the time; 12:05.

I got up and walked over across my room to the small table with my water bottle on it and switched on the light. The house was quiet and peaceful. I was thinking of quickly changing into my PJs before getting back into bed when I heard something coming from my bedside table.

Static. Static coming from the walkie-talkie that sat aimlessly on the table. _What in the world?,_ I thought.

I heard a familiar _BEEPBEEP_ come from the device and a familiar voice came from the other side of the line.

"Somebody. Anybody. Help me. Someone's trying to kill me. HELP!" The walkie-talkie went slack and I was left staring at the device, with an open mouth.

The water bottle slipped out of my hands. My body was shaking and I felt like I was dreaming.

 _Percy is in danger. Percy needs my help,_ the words rang inside my head until I couldn't take it. I willed my body to move; I grabbed my jacket, my phone and my bag and ran out the door, down the stairs and out of the house.

I dialed 911 on my phone and heard ringing on the other side; praying they would hurry up and pick up.

Maybe it was a misunderstanding; maybe it wasn't. I heard the fear, _the pain_ in Percy's voice. He sounded so scared, so vulnerable.

 _I'm coming Percy,_ I thought as I heard somebody speak on the other side of my phone.


	5. Chapter 5

Hello all you PJ fans, welcome to chapter 5 of this suspenseful and mysterious fanfiction! Today we follow Annabeth's journey on finding out who is after Percy. Seriously, who could it be? Well, I guess you'll just have to keep reading! :)

 **P.S. For anyone who is wondering, my schedule for writing and posting new chapters are every Saturday and Sunday (just in case some of you were wondering :))**

* * *

 **Annabeth's POV**

"Hello, this is 911, what's your emergency?" A lady said on the other side of the line.

"Hello, this is Annabeth Chase and I am calling for my friend, Percy Jackson. I have reason to believe he's in danger at the NYC Health Hospital. Can you _please_ send someone over to make sure he's ok?"

"Stay calm Ma'am. I've just alerted the New York City Police Force and they are on their way. Would you like me to send a cop car over to pick you up?"

"Yes please. My address is..."

Ten minutes later, a police car slowed to a stop in front of my house. I grabbed my bag, kissed my dad goodbye (who came outside moments before to check what all of the commotion was about) and jumped into the passenger seat of the police car.

The policewoman, Reyna, was very friendly and she calmly asked me why I thought Percy was in danger.

I explained to her everything; the fact that he got hit by a truck days before and how I gave him a walkie-talkie so we could communicate with each other, despite his ruined phone. The fact that I woke up in the middle of the night and heard him call on the walkie-talkie and cry for help.

 _"Somebody. Anybody. Help me. Someone's trying to kill me. HELP!"_

 _"Someone's trying to kill me."_

 _"Kill me"_ His terrified voice was stuck in my head like a catchy song (and not the good kind).

The second after the walkie-talkie went quiet, for the first time in my life, I felt truly lost. I couldn't think, I couldn't move, I couldn't _breath_. Stuff like this isn't supposed to happen to two high school kids, yet here we were; Percy, left vulnerable at the hospital (as crazy as that sounds) and me, with his well-being, his _life_ resting on my shoulders.

I wasn't going to let him down; I had to stay focused on the task at hand and pray that it wasn't too late.

The police car sped down 59th Street and took shortcut after shortcut to reach the hospital. We slowed to a stop in front of the hospital; several police cars were already parked up front, with their red and blue lights flashing against the dark atmosphere.

Officer Reyna and I both got out. She was talking to someone on her walkie-talkie, hopefully to someone who was actually _inside_ the hospital.

I couldn't take waiting anymore; I grabbed my bag and ran inside the hospital, despite Officer Reyna and a bunch of other cops yelling to me to stay outside. Even though I'm not one to break the rules, I felt so impatient, so _angry_ that all of this was happening. I wasn't going to wait around, I had to see for myself what was going on.

I took the elevator up to the 5th floor and walked through the hallway keeping my eyes open for Room 333. The hospital's atmosphere was quiet, but tense, like the whole building was holding its breath and wouldn't be relieved until Percy was safe and sound (or maybe that was just me).

I spotted Room 333, not only because of the large, brass numbers on the front of the door but because multiple cops were standing guard outside.

I told them who I was and they unblocked the door. What I saw next made my heart drop to my stomach.

I turned my head to the left of the room, where the hospital bed was, and saw Percy lying motionless on his back, his nose swollen and bloody and his arms dangling aimlessly at the sides of the bed (with the casts looking like they had been torn off). The mattress was tilted off of the skeleton of the bed and don't even get me started on the sheets. Crowded around Percy were at least 4 nurses hooking him up to a heart rate monitor, frantically checking his vitals, making sure he was getting enough oxygen and cleaning up the numerous bruises and scratches all over his arms and face (as if a bear had attacked him). I stood there motionless for about 5 seconds before walking over and helping the nurses with Percy.

I helped them in every way I could; I cleaned up the scratches all over his hands and forehead, elevated his arms, one by one, while two other nurses, Kira and Shelly, put new casts around Percy's arms. I helped fix up the bed and elevate Percy's arms again so that the nurses could hang them up from a string on the ceiling; I, essentially, **became** a nurse in that hour.

The room itself looked like it went through a hurricane; both tables - the one in the far corner of the room and the one near the bed - were knocked over and the carpet was sticking out as if someone was trying to pull it out from under the hospital bed.

After Percy was cleaned up, the nurses were getting ready to go home for the rest of the night. I was sitting on a chair near Percy's unconscious form, staring at him, as if I thought that if I looked hard enough I could magically make everything all better. The nurses had unhooked him from the heart monitor (despite the paranoia that was nagging at the back of my mind, I didn't protest) and they had wrapped up his bruised nose so now it look like he had a bandaged ball balancing on his face.

A hand touched my shoulder and I flinched before realizing that it was just Officer Reyna.

"Hi Annabeth. I think you should go home now", she said crouching down next to me.

"Um..I kinda wanna stay here for the night", I said. Despite my extreme exhaustion I felt more comfortable, _safer,_ if I stayed at the hospital with Percy.

"Alright then. Just remember he might not wake up until the morning. You be careful now. Have a goodnight" she said standing up and walking towards the door. The door closed shut and I was left alone with Percy.

I put my hand to Percy's face and started stroking his dark, messy hair. Suddenly, the million-dollar question popped into my mind, the question that had been on everyone's mind since this whole thing started.

 _Who would try to kill Percy?_

Seriously, Percy was the funniest, nicest and sweetest boy at school, maybe in all of New York! He's never hurt anyone(not on purpose anyway) and he does everything with a certain willingness; a "You only live once" kind of willingness. He always walks with a purpose and he is rarely ever miserable (though I doubt that rule applies now). I was trying to dig deep into my mind, trying to fish out some instance at school where he ever hurt anyone (whether by accident or not) enough to drive them to the point of murder.

Then something clicked. Suddenly the weird events of the past few days snapped together like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. _The truck, Luke's strange behavior ("Do you love me" and all), and tonight..._

They were all connected. But before I could write all of this down or call someone or _do something_ , my eyes closed shut and I fell into a dreamless state of sleep.

* * *

I woke up when the sun was starting to rise. The orange light illuminated the hospital room (due to the giant window behind me) and I heard a groan coming from in front of me. My heart did a somersault as I saw Percy's eyes blinking open.

"A-Annabeth!?" he said, his voice was hoarse and cracking which gave me deja vu from the first time he woke up at the hospital.

"Hi Percy. Want some water?", I said quietly.

He nodded and I fished a water bottle from my bag (still not shaking that deja vu).

After about 60 seconds of silence we both splurted out "What happened!?" (me with a little more emotion in my voice than I'd like to admit).

He and I smiled for the first time in what seemed like forever. He then proceeded to tell me how he woke up in the middle of last night and saw and heard something (or _someone)_ moving at the foot of his bed. He told me about how the _tall_ figure tried to suffocate him to death and about his struggle to cling to life before he thought of to call me with the walkie talkie. It was half amusing how his voice sounded weird because of the bandage pinching his nose, but this was no laughing matter.

"...and then...I can't remember anything after I called you", he said concluding his story. At this point I heard nurses rustling outside, serving breakfast to the other patients in the hospital.

My mind was swimming with all of the different puzzle pieces coming together in my brain. I just needed one more thing to finish the puzzle and put an end to this.

"Percy", I said with a sort of grief to my voice "I know you probably want me to stay with you here, but I _really_ have to go."

"Why? Do you and Luke have _plans?_ ", he said in an annoyed tone that shocked me.

"What is that supposed to mean? Listen-"

"No its fine.", he said "fine" as it was a foreign word, "if you need to go, then go."

I didn't know what to say. I understood why he was upset (even Percy couldn't keep his cool after all that happened) but I still felt like someone hit my heart with a hammer as I slung my bag over my shoulder and walked towards the door. I saw a nurse heading in the direction of the room with a tray of breakfast in her hands. I turned towards Percy and locked my eyes with his; his sea-green eyes staring back at me with a mixture of sorrow and regret. I turned on my heals and jogged down the stairs and out the door of the hospital.

The light blinded me for a few seconds so I decided I would make a quick pit stop at my house to freshen up before heading to a certain boy's house.

I needed to talk with my so-called boyfriend.


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello everyone! Here is Chapter 6 of this suspenseful Percy Jackson fic! Annabeth seems to be onto something...**

* * *

 **Annabeth's POV**

It was hard to concentrate as I waited on the side of the intersection for a taxi to come my way. My head was swarming with different realizations, pieces of the puzzle falling into place in my mind. I was trying to focus on spotting out a taxi; I had to get home, wash up, get dressed and explain to my parents (my dad) why I was gone all night. My dad's pretty understanding most of the time...

But I realized just then that he had left 10 messages on my phone (which conveniently died on my little excursion to the hospital last night). I ended up going back inside the hospital after realizing that my phone died and charged it. And, while waiting for a taxi to come my way, the phone buzzed in my bag. Of course I was too flustered and panicked from intensely staring at the busy road, searching for an incoming taxi, that I had missed the call. I just hoped he wouldn't be steaming by the time I got home and I could get to Luke's house and get to the bottom of this...

Just then a taxi sped my way; but before it drove out of my view I hailed it until it slowed to a stop. Percy had taught me how to hail a taxi a couple years back when we were rushing to get a ride to school so we wouldn't get yelled at by Mrs. Dodds a third time that day (it's a long story). Just thinking about Percy made my stomach twist like a pretzel, but this just made me more determined to end this madness once and for all.

* * *

Long story short, my dad was ok with everything.

Once the taxi pulled into the driveway of my house, my dad came running out in his boxer shorts and jacket, spluting out random "Where were you?"s and "Your stepmom and I were so worried" (as if my stepmom would even notice I was gone).

I calmly told him what happened (of course leaving out the part where someone tried to murder Percy and instead saying that he merely fell out of bed and was half-delirious from the fall). I told him I stayed the night, just to be safe, and that my phone died in the middle of the night so that's why I didn't return his calls.

And then he said "Ok" and there were no more questions.

Man, I love my dad.

Anyway, I quickly showered, changed, put on a minimal amount of makeup, grabbed an apple from the fruit basket and made up some excuse about wanting to study at the library before rushing out the door and jogging towards Luke's house.

My shoulder was aching from carrying my bag around all the time but I really did need it this time; it had a notebook and pencil (in case I needed to write anything down) and a camera in case I needed to snap any unsuspecting pictures (my phone doesn't have a camera on it; sue me).

Before I knew it, I was turning a corner and I walked up 3rd Avenue towards Luke's house. I was reminded of, when just yesterday, I was walking up this same street, coming to hang out with Luke. Of course then I didn't know what Luke was really up to or why he was acting so weird. Now I was determined to find out the truth.

Once Luke's house came into view, I noticed something interesting on the front porch. The door was wide open and I heard faint voices coming from inside. As I got closer, I slowed down to a walk and listened in on the conversation.

"Mom, I'll be home by tonight, ok?", said a deep, sarcastic voice.

"But you haven't even finished your breakfast! And I thought I told you to finish those peanut butter sandwiches yesterday!", said a higher pitched, more frazzled-sounding voice.

"You made those for the school, Mom."

"I made too many! They wouldn't take them all! Now get over here and eat your breakfast!"

"NO!"

Suddenly a tall, blond and all-too familiar figure came into view on the front porch. I don't know what came over me but I ducked out of view...into a tall hedge on the neighbor's lawn.

Luke looked terrible, and that's putting it mildly! His hair was a tangled mess, his eyes were red and puffy, with wide dark circles framed around them (from far away, it looked like he was wearing glasses), and his clothing- a button down shirt with khakis - was all wrinkled and dirty, like his mom hadn't done laundry in months.

And he looked miserable. It looked like someone had permanently etched a scowl on his face. He slammed the door shut (the sound was heard from miles around) and stomped down the steps of the porch onto the hard, cement sidewalk.

I don't know why, but I stayed hidden in the foliage of the huge hedge, while he stomped past me. Once the sound of his footsteps got quiet enough, I poked my head through the hedge and looked to the left. Sure enough, he turned the corner and was out of my view.

I got out of the hedge and didn't even bother picking off the little leaves and twigs stuck in my hair and clothing. Instead, I jogged after Luke, having a new plan of spying on him from a distance instead of confronting him with the facts. This might seem cowardly to some of you but I was trying to think logically. If I flat out accused him of trying to kill Percy, things would've gotten ugly.

Either A. He would've confessed to being the culprit, kidnapped me and held me for ransom (among other unspeakable possibilities)

Or B. He wouldn't be the culprit and I would've broken a boy's self-esteem just because of my wild accusations.

I was 99% sure I was right in my thinking, but I took that 1% chance of me being wrong with a grain of salt and I followed relatively slowly behind Luke, writing observations down along the way.

* * *

For some reason I wasn't paying attention to where Luke (and, in turn, I) was headed until we actually arrived at our destination.

A creepy-looking alleyway.

I don't even know why I zoned out. It wasn't like I was writing down anything important. Just random observations about Luke; how he walked in a sluggish fashion like he wasn't sure if he wanted to move forward or backward, and - the most interesting thing I noticed - is that he had something in his pocket. It looked big and long, but I didn't have time to ponder what it was. We reached the alleyway and a tall (even taller than Luke) dark figure crept out of the shadows and addressed Luke like he was an old friend.

"Hello Luke.", he said in a heavy Russian accent.

At this point, I was already ducking out behind some trash cans.

"H-Hello Mr. Kronos.", Luke said in a much higher voice than when he was talking to his mother, moments before.

"Luke, are you ready to finally prove your worth as one of my army?", Mr. Kronos said with a bit of pride in his voice.

"I-I am sir. Do you have the poison I requested?"

"Well of course, my friend." Kronos brought out a tiny vial of jet-black liquid.

"Thank you sir, I won't let you-"

Kronos abruptly stepped into the light and I finally saw a glimpse of his face. His eyes were the color of honey, little flecks of a rich caramel color visible around the outside of his irises. His jet black hair was plastered against the side of his face, as if someone dumped a bucket of water on him on the way to the alley. His big, crooked nose and sneer made his whole face look twisted as he gripped both of Luke's arms, his long, dirty fingernails digging into Luke's skin.

"Now you listen to me, Luke", he said in a much harsher, faster tone than he had a few seconds ago, "Since I have been so kind as to personally deliver this substance to you, I should hope that you do not disappoint me on your mission. Remember this is your last chance and if, so help me, you fail..."

He shoved his right hand down Luke's pocket and pulled out a big syringe. Kronos lifted the vial of black liquid to the light, unscrewed the cork on the bottle, and filled the syringe to the brim with the poison.

He held the filled syringe up until the needle was touching Luke's skin.

"You die...", he whispered, his voice barely audible from the distance I was at.

Luke was absolutely terrified. Even from behind, I could see him shaking, with little beads of sweat trickling down his neck. I almost felt sorry for him.

I was struggling to contain myself; this Kronos guy made the atmosphere feel so dangerous; like the air was carrying poison in it and the effects were about to kick in anytime. I felt the need to run away, to stand up and surrender or to _do something_. Instead I blended in with the stillness and quietness of the moment until Luke eventually manned up and said something.

"I-I promise I won't let you down, my lord", he said in a tone so fast that it took me a moment to decipher.

Kronos let go of Luke's arms and handed him the filled syringe.

Luke turned his back on the man and I only had a second to hide myself behind the trash cans. He was running so fast he, fortunately, didn't even notice me.

I waited a couple minutes to both collect my thoughts and to give Kronos some time to leave. My mind was filled with a thousand questions like; _Who was that guy? Why is Luke working with him? What is this "army" he's talking about?_

But there was one thought that overruled all of the others.

 _Luke is going to the hospital. With the poison._

Percy.

That thought snapped me out of my daze and I abruptly stood up, shouldered my bag and ran as fast I could, away from the alleyway and to the nearest intersection.

Miraculously, I caught Luke getting into a taxi but, before I could do anything, the taxi sped off towards the direction of the city. Another taxi was coming my way so I hailed it and it stopped right in front of where I was standing.

"Take me to the NYC Hospital; go as fast as you can!", I said hurriedly as I jumped in the backseat of the vehicle.

The taxi gained speed.

I felt like I wanted to cry or pass out or both. But I focused on picking the twigs out of my hair as I braced myself for what was about to go down at the hospital. I _had_ to get there before Luke did. If only there was a way to warn Percy...

Then I remembered the walkie-talkie. When I was packing my backpack, back at home, I packed the walkie-talkie just in case things went wrong.

I hurriedly fished through my bag and brought out the walkie-talkie. My hands were shaking but I managed to press the button.

"Percy, there's not much time. Luke's on his way, you have to-"

Suddenly I lurched forward in the taxi, the walkie-talkie flinging out of my hand.

"Miss Chase, we have arrived at your destination", the guy behind the wheel said.

I grabbed my backpack and the walkie-talkie and jumped out of the car. I sprinted up the steps of the hospital, getting side-glances from the people around me. I reached the hallway of the building and, conveniently, an elevator door was open, as if it were waiting for me. The last thing I was thinking before the elevator door slid closed was:

 _How did the taxi driver know my name?_


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello Everyone! Here is chapter 7 of this intensifying story! Things are heating up at the NYC Hospital...**

 **Also, P.S., Percy has NOT been wearing a hospital gown at his time at the hospital. I just wanted to make that clear, especially right before this chapter ;)**

* * *

 **Percy's POV**

I had never felt worse than I did in that moment as Annabeth grabbed her bag and walked out the door. She had turned back, though only for a second, and looked like she wanted to say something. However, nothing came out and, after she locked her stormy-grey eyes with mine, she turned on her heels and ran out the door shutting it behind her.

After that, I felt truly and utterly alone.

I mean, I had just woken up from a traumatic event. An event that no normal 17-year old has ever experienced. **Someone tried to kill me.** And yet, I felt so relieved to find Annabeth sitting by me when I woke up. It was if I was falling into a black, empty void, and all of a sudden the world turned from darkness to light in a matter of those few seconds. Call it cliché, but Annabeth helped me feel safe. She helped me feel like I was unstoppable. Though, after last night I can't really say that; I almost died.

And the ugly truth was that I **was** angry with Annabeth. We were only together for 15 minutes, talking hurridly about the events of the previous night. Then suddenly she tells me that she has to go, as if nothing had happened.

" _I **really** have to go_ ", the sentence was still stuck in my head even after nurse Kira had come in and served me breakfast (Eggo waffles with yogurt and orange juice).

What I said next just blurted out of me, as if all of the anger from the past few days from hearing Annabeth say that she had to go just came out in that one retort. I was sick of hearing excuses, apologies, and explanations. All I wanted was one, peaceful hour with Annabeth; no talking about murderers and mystery, no worry or stress, just peace and quiet, hanging out together. I knew this about as likely to happen as the dream I had the night before, but I couldn't help but feel wistful, in a way, homesick. I missed the good 'ol days; the **normal** days. Now my life was turned upside-down and I didn't know what to believe anymore.

On a brighter note, some nurses came in my room an hour after breakfast and took off the bandage around my nose and the cast around my neck. They also fixated the casts around my arms so that they weren't dangling from the ceiling anymore. They told me to move my fingers frequently, or else they might get paralyzed in a fixed position. After they told me that, I couldn't stop wiggling my fingers; I didn't need any more problems.

All of this took a lot off of my shoulders (literally). I could move around now, pacing around the room pondering the question that has been on everyone's minds the past few days.

 _Who the heck was trying to kill me!?_

Like, I don't mean to brag, but I was a pretty good kid at school. Sure, sometimes I was late to class (well more than sometimes) and sure, I've been caught at the pool during study hall. But, other than that, I couldn't think of anything that I might've done to upset anyone.

And then it all hit me so hard and so fast that I tripped and landed on the bed.

Luke.

I could literally feel the gears turning in my head as all of the jigsaw pieces connected in my mind. The swimming competition, Annabeth, the truck that ran me over and the tall figure looming over my hospital bed. It was all Luke.

Then I second-guessed myself; why in the world would Luke do all of this? Just because I beat him at the National Swimming Competition at school doesn't mean its ok for him to go on a rampage and try to kill me! There must've been something else...something that was encouraging him to do this...

Something startled me out of my deep thoughts. I was standing in the middle of the room, just staring into empty space wondering why Luke would do all of this. Suddenly, I heard something coming from the bedside table in the corner of the room.

 _Static._

At first I had no clue where it was coming from. Then I heard an all-too-familiar _BEEPBEEP_ and a rattled voice on the other side of the line.

"Percy, there's not much time. Luke's on his way, you have to-", Annabeth said in a hushed, but hurried voice. Her sentence was cut off by a loud _SCREECH_ and the walkie-talkie got quiet. She sounded absolutely **petrified** _._

For 5 minutes, all I did was stare, open-mouthed at the walkie talkie, as if I thought that if I stared long and hard enough, the sound of Annabeth's voice might go away.

But of course that's not what happened. Her broken voice was playing and re-playing in my mind. It was as if her panic was contagious, because suddenly I started sweating and shaking.

I wondered what she meant by "there's not much time". I wondered if her warning about Luke had been true. I wondered if she had realized the same thing I had about Luke. And I wondered what cut her off, where she was and if she was ok. All of these questions and more were flooding my thought process, making it difficult for me to do _anything_ other than stare at the dead-quiet walkie-talkie wondering if I had imagined the whole thing.

I took a deep breath, thinking it might clear my mind, but then everything went wrong.

Let me just take a quick pause to explain to you that, everyday around noon, most of the hospital staff - the nurses, doctors, and secretaries - would be out of the building, having lunch or whatever. That being said, there were only a few people at the hospital during that 1 hour period, the patients and a few security guards randomly placed around the hospital. Just thought that would be helpful information considering what had happened right after I tried calming myself down.

I suddenly heard a huge _CRASH_ from behind the locked door of the room.

Wait _locked_? Of course, this was the least of my worries at the time but looking back at this makes me wonder when the nurses started locking the patients' doors.

But anyway, the door flew open and I saw a tall, familiar figure, with sandy-blond hair, pale blue eyes, a small scar on his chin and an expression that could scare away Principal Chiron (and, trust me, he might seem like a happy-go-lucky guy, but make the guy mad and you will regret it for the rest of the school year).

But something in Luke's eyes made me feel like he had changed from the last time I saw him (I'm not counting the time he gave me a midnight surprise the night before, but the time when we saw each other in the school hallway, at least one week earlier). Sure, he looked terrifying with that furious look on his face, but, looking beyond his expression, he looked miserable. His clothes were ratty and dirty, his hair looked like it hadn't been washed in weeks and he had deep, dark bags around his eyes, making him look tired. Almost broken.

He darted his eyes toward me and stared me down for what seemed like hours. His gaze made it hard for me to focus. I don't know why, I mean I should've been doing _something_ (like running away from this maniac and calling the cops). Instead I stood in the middle of the room, with my bandaged arms at my side, looking at Luke with a little bit of sympathy. I could tell something was off about him, but I didn't think I was going to find out what.

He finally turned his attention to the door; he fiddled with the lock on it until I heard an ominous _Click!_ sound.

Apparently I was locked in the relatively large hospital room with a teenage killer.

 _Can this day get any worse?,_ I thought _._

And of course, it got worse. Luke dashed forward, so fast I couldn't even react quick enough, and shoved me onto the bed.

"Nice to see you Percy", he was breathing heavily from just pushing me, something I wouldn't expect from a 5-year Swim champion.

"Luke", I said trying to handle this situation before it could spiral out of control, "I know you're the one who tried to kill me."

He actually laughed at that. And it wasn't one of those laughs that would tempt you to follow along; it was one of those laughs that made him seem like a villain. A short, swift laugh that got the point across; I had to be careful of what I said next.

"Oh, Fish Boy, you really aren't the smartest guy are you? I expected you to put the pieces together days ago. I was actually _scared_ you would figure everything out before my plan was set into action...", he took a pause; apparently everything else he had to say he couldn't said out loud.

Then he mumbled something that got my attention "I even expected Annabeth to find out sooner."

Hearing her name made a flame kindle inside my throat. "Where is she!? What have you done?"

"Oh, calm down. You were the last one to see her. I have no idea why she ran out on you. She might've finally figured me all out..." he actually sounded worried on his last comment.

"But that doesn't matter", he continued "they said they'd cover me...I still have time."

 _Who's they?,_ I thought, _And how did Luke know about Annabeth dashing out on me this morning?_

"Listen Luke, I don't know what you're going on about. But, knowing Annabeth, she's probably figured everything out. She is probably on her way right now with half of the New York City Police Force. I suggest you start confessing your crimes now, there's nowhere to run."

He chuckled, "Oh Fishbrain, you're amusing. I know Annabeth WAY better than you do; I'm her boyfriend for God's sake!"

This made the fire in my throat creep into my stomach.

"Um, well considering you are a psychotic raging lunatic, I don't think she'll want to date you anymore. She's way too good for you. And you know that."

It looked like I struck a nerve on that last comment. He seemed to lose his footing and his gaze seemed a lot more careful.

"Listen Percy...you don't have the faintest idea of what I've been through. I've suffered more than you and if I don't do this he'll kill me."

"Alright enough with the riddles! Who's they and who's he!?", at this point I just wanted answers; apparently Luke assumed I figured out more than I did because this question seemed to catch him off-guard.

"HA! Like you don't know. Like you don't know about Kronos and his army. Like you don't know about Camp Half-Blood and it's army. Why you and Annabeth and all of us are so wanted by these armies. Like you don't know about why Kronos wants you out of the picture. Like you don't know about what your own FATHER did!"

Okay, after that last comment, getting killed didn't sound so bad. I mean, hearing someone address my father wasn't a normal thing for me. See, my dad left my mom when I was born; I never met him. When I was little, my mom would always talk about how he was a great guy and he just had more important things to worry about than raising a family. But I still felt iffy about my dad; I mean I didn't understand why he left my mom and I didn't think it was fair on my mom's part either. She's been trying to sustain herself and I since I was born. She's had to deal with this grumpy old guy as her boss at the bakery. She had her own plans in life, and they were snatched away when I was born and my dad left her. Most of the time I didn't think about my father, but when I did they weren't nice thoughts.

I haven't heard someone say "your father" to me for a while. I was caught off-guard by the sudden mention of him.

But then I thought about what else Luke mentioned. _Armies, why Annabeth and I are wanted by them, something about some guy named Kronos; what the heck was going on here!?,_ I wondered.

Since I had so many questions, I decided to ask the question I was most curious about; "Who's making you do this Luke? What have I ever done to you that would give you enough reason to try and kill me!?"

"At first I DID want to kill you, just for beating me at the Swim Competition. You stole my title away from me. Not to mention that I could tell Annabeth cared WAY more about you than she does at me. I finally got the resources and the help I needed to put my plans into action. Obviously, I didn't suspect that idiot, Ethan, to try and run over Annabeth. Obviously, I didn't expect you to have a way to call for help last night. But I had back-up plans. And this is the last straw. If I don't succeed, he WILL kill me."

Apparently, Luke still thought I knew more than I was leading on. I guess he expected me to figure out exactly what was going on from that blurb.

What I learned; absolutely nothing.

He suddenly pulled something out of his pocket. A syringe with a HUGE needle (like 4 inches long). Inside of the syringe was a pitch-black liquid, the only gleam of color being the light reflecting off of the glass.

He gingerly held it up in front of me. He was inches away from my body. I scurried to the corner of the room.

"You know what this is Percy? This is a powerful and rare poison from the Amazonians; my master _personally_ delivered it to me. Now, I'm going to have to kill you with this. Now you might be thinking I have no real reason to do this. And you're right; it's nothing personal", he said this as if being poisoned by this substance would be such an honor and that it not being personal would make me feel any better about being stabbed with a long, pointy needle (alright you caught me; I hate needles, they freak me out).

Even though I still didn't have the faintest idea of what was going on, I still felt like I had to do something to keep him busy; to keep him talking. Maybe I could buy enough time for help to arrive.

"You know, it's not too late to stop this Luke. You can turn yourself in and-"

"NO! You d-don't understand-I-Kronos will KILL ME if I don't do this. I thought-I-", it seriously looked like he was having a nervous breakdown.

It sounded like this Kronos guy was powerful in more ways than one and that Luke was absolutely terrified by the thought of confronting him. I got that much out of his random comments.

It also sounded like keeping him talking wasn't going to work. It seemed like he already had his mind set on killing me; whether he liked it or not, he _had_ to do it; or else this Kronos guy would get to him. I didn't understand his position, I just wanted to stay alive for a few more minutes.

I decided that if I couldn't keep him talking, I would have to fight him.

Now that might seem very desperate, at this point. I was no martial artist and I had no weapons.

Well...that was until I realized I could use part of the heart-rate monitor in the opposite corner of the room as a potential weapon; the part that connects the monitor to all of the little sensors.

So, without any plan whatsoever, I sprinted past Luke towards the corner near the door and picked up the long, surprisingly heavy, metal rod that connected a black screen to a few random sensors, dangling on the side of the contraption by some tiny rubber tubes.

Apparently, my sudden motion confused Luke because he stood there for a solid minute before turning around and facing me.

I thought while I was at it, I could try and unlock the door. But when I turned to face the door, the metal handle was all mangled and misshapen; like Hulk himself had tried handling the door.

"Percy, don't try and f-fight. If you care about me AND Annabeth, you'd give your life away."

"What do you mean _'AND Annabeth'_!? She's her own person! You two aren't attached. She knows much better than to be with someone like you. Maybe there is a way for both of us to live; you could run away-"

This must've been his trigger word; "NO! I am DONE with running away from my problems", I could've sworn I saw a tear form in the corner of his eye.

"I have do this, Percy. If you want to fight, then fine. I don't care anymore..."

I guess I had no choice. I had to fight Luke.

 _How hard could that be?_ , I thought.

Apparently _VERY_ hard.

I charged him with the metal rod; the screen and sensors trailing uselessly behind. I raised the rod above his head - trying to see if I could knock him unconscious for the time being - when he freaking _**cartwheeled**_ out of the way and slammed his back against the giant window that covered one of the walls.

Okay, so maybe Luke had more athletic abilities that I had been led to believe. I literally thought the only sport he'd been trained in was swimming (which would be a totally useless skill at the moment). Apparently his "resources" also meant he got some sort of training.

I could tell that he was exhausted from that one move; sweat was running down the side of his face and he was panting like a dog. Maybe if I kept him going longer, he would tire himself out.

I tried to swing the rod at him once more but he slid his body out of the way and I almost ended up hitting the _window._

Fortunately, I stopped myself right in time. One more second, and the glass would've shattered (and I possibly would've ran off the floor and plummeted to my death).

Thank goodness for my cat-like reflexes.

Suddenly, Luke punched me in the gut and I fell to the ground with a loud _Thump!._ I felt like I would pass out or vomit but, fortunately, I didn't do either. I gingerly stood up, using the wall behind me as support, right before Luke charged me. I repeated what he had done seconds before to me, and slid out of the way.

Only this time, I took the opportunity to elbow him in the small of his back. He fell flat on his face onto the tile floor.

I ran to the door, suddenly wishing I had a safety pin or a credit card or _something_ to open the door with. I couldn't find anything in my pockets that would help (unless you count a lonely mint and some tissues).

I tuned to see Luke gradually standing up and I could see blood dripping off of his face. I'm pretty sure I had broken his nose.

I also realized that he was **_extremely_** mad at me for doing so. I could see the pure hatred burning in his eyes as he looked up at me.

I HAD to get out of there. I couldn't keep this up forever and I knew that Luke was way more skilled than me at combat. I was either going to get beaten to death or poisoned to death.

Then something happened that made me feel a lot more hopeful.

I heard a noise on the other side of the door.

Again, Luke wasn't fully recovered from my last attack on him; he was still trying to stand up and cover his bloody nose. I was right next to the door, trying in vain to think of a way to break out of the room. Then suddenly, I heard footsteps and a voice come from the other side of the door; a voice I couldn't have been happier to hear at that very moment.

"PERCY! PERCY? Are you ok? It's Annabeth, open the door!", she was screaming and it looked like she was trying to open the door from the fact that the mangled handle was jiggling (so much so, it looked like it would fall off of the door).

I wasn't sure if Luke was aware that Annabeth had arrived, but since I saw that he would be getting up soon, I kicked him to the ground (a hint of guilt making its way into my conscious) so that I could have at least a few more minutes to talk to Annabeth.

"Annabeth, it's Percy. I'm ok", I said with relief to my voice; relieved that I was still alive.

"Oh thank God. Open the door!", she said with a LOT more relief in her voice.

"I can't; the door handle is...broken."

"One sec, I'll have you out in a moment", I heard more jiggling in the lock part of the door; knowing Annabeth she probably had the supplies she needed to jimmy the lock, "Is Luke in there?"

"Yeah he just tried to kill me again. I-" suddenly I felt a sharp pain in my shoulder and I screamed as I fell to my knees.

Luke was standing over me; his nose was still bleeding like there was no tomorrow (dripping all over the back of my shirt, mind you) and he had a crazed look in his eyes. I realized right then and there that he really _didn't_ care what happened. As long as he stayed away from Kronos's clutches.

At the very second that the needle sunk into my skin, Annabeth had successfully opened the door. She was welcomed by two beat up boys; her maniac of a boyfriend (Luke) hovering over her life-long friend (me).

"LUKE!", she shrieked. I slowly raised my head to finally see her face. Most of her dirty-blond hair was out of her ponytail, with little twigs and leaves sticking out of her head. She was sweaty and panting with her backpack leaning against her feet.

Moments passed (though it felt like hours) and Luke and her locked eyes. I could tell that she was confused as to why this was all happening (not gonna lie; I was too) and that she was hurt that Luke would throw his life away to do something like this.

I couldn't see Luke's face; the only way I could tell he was even behind me was from the blood dripping off of his nose, down my back, and the force he was putting on the needle.

Speaking of the needle, he still hadn't injected the poison into me. It had been at least 5 minutes when I started preparing myself for any sudden movements.

But he just stood there, slowly loosening his grip on the syringe, as if he was having second thoughts on what he was doing.

After the staring contest between him and Annabeth, I heard a shaky breath come from behind me; a breath that sounded like a failed attempt at a chuckle.

Suddenly, the needle was out of my shoulder and Luke slowly stood up over me. I stood up too and backed up against the doorway; one of my bandaged arms in front of Annabeth in case Luke tried anything funny, my other bandaged arm holding my right shoulder (since I was bleeding from the needle). I suddenly realized how much my arms were aching from trying to fight off Luke; I guess the adrenaline had taken my mind off of the pain during the fight.

I was shocked to see that Luke was actually _smiling._ But it was a sad kind of smile. A smile you would have if you were about to do something you knew you would regret.

I also realized the syringe was still filled to the brim with the black poison and that Luke was clutching it in his hands as if it weighed a ton.

"Percy, do me a f-favor and-" he cut himself off, raised the syringe and injected the jet-black poison into his neck. He shook violently and collapsed onto the floor.

Annabeth shrieked and ran to Luke's side. I crouched down and tried to see if there was anything we could do. His eyes were still open but it looked like he was focusing on something else; something me and Annabeth couldn't see.

His breathing was labored and the area where he injected himself was turning a hideous dark purple color, but he managed to finish his statement.

"D-Don't let Kronos w-win".

His eyes closed, his hand with the empty syringe went slack and everything got a lot more quiet and somber as he drifted away from life.

Annabeth's hands were over her eyes (probably trying to hide the fact that she was crying) and I was just as confused as ever with a heavy heart that Luke had just killed himself right in front of us.

Suddenly a crowd formed behind us in the doorway of the hospital room and a man's voice startled me and Annabeth out of our dazes.

"Come with me, you two."

I turned and saw the crowd; all of the hospital staff, plus some. The man who had just spoken was none other than Principal Chiron from our high school.

He didn't look happy.

Annabeth grasped my hand, her fingers trembling between mine, and we both walked out of the hospital room, still shook from the traumatizing event and the possibility of being blamed for Luke's death.

We followed Principal Chiron away from Luke's limp body. People were starting to gather around him but I knew that he was already gone.

And that made a tear form in the corner of my eye. I gripped Annabeth's hand harder as we followed Chiron into the hospital elevator.

The metal doors slid closed as I thought of how hard Luke's death must've been on Annabeth.


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey guys! It's been a loooong time and I apologize for the dreadful wait. I ended up losing inspiration for this fanfic but, to ring in the new year, I thought I'd wrap up all the lose ends of this story (finally!)**

 **After this chapter, I'll be writing Chapter 9 and then a epilogue to finish it! I really hope you guys enjoy this ending 3**

* * *

 **Annabeth's POV**

My shaking, sweaty hand gripped Percy's hand firmly as we were led outside of the hospital building and into the back of a large, black van. Normally, I would've been wary of entering the back of a stranger's van - especially after the traumatic experience Percy and I had just gone through - but it was precisely the trauma that caused me not to question why we were about to be driven away by Principal Chiron - who had shown up from absolute _nowhere -_ or where he was going to take us.

It was precisely the trauma that caused me to relive the last few moments in slow-motion over and over and _over again._

I dissected the situation we were just in, trying to think of what I could've done to prevent what had happened from happening. I never expected Luke to _inject himself with poison and kill himself_ \- although, the obvious signs of his clear mental illness should've been evidence enough of what was about to transpire.

His face was what got me though - his mixed expression of defeat, loneliness and...something else. Something that set off a feeling of _knowing_ \- as if he _knew_ all along that this would end with him killing himself.

And the word that caused my heart to jump into my throat every time it filtered its way into my distressed thoughts was: _Why?_

I didn't know why he tried to kill Percy or why he felt the need to kill himself. I didn't know who that man in the alley - Kronos - was or why he had threatened Luke into murdering Percy. I didn't know _anything_ and that was what was eating me alive as Chiron sped down the road, onto the highway taking us to who-knew-where.

The only thing that was stopping me from putting my head in my hands and sobbing or screaming (or both) was Percy's hand in mine. As always, he was the one thing keeping me sane in this highly stressful situation and I couldn't imagine how he was feeling, having witnessed the death of one of his swim mates, whether he liked him or not being completely thrown out the window.

I didn't want to break down in front of him - _not again._

Instead, I focused on the task at hand, that being _where the hell Chiron was taking us_.

"Principal Chiron", I said, my voice a little hoarse, "Where are we going?"

"You will see all in due time, Miss Chase", he said, smiling knowingly into the rear view mirror. Suddenly, something clicked in my brain: I remembered the odd taxi driver who had taken me to the hospital during my insane mission to stop Luke. How the taxi driver ominously knew my name and how, thinking back, I hadn't even _paid_ for the ride before sprinting out of the vehicle.

 _Miss Chase, we have arrived at your destination,_ his voice was playing over and over in my head like a broken tape. I didn't know _why_ or _how_ our high school principal had hijacked a taxi and happened to pick me up at the _exact moment_ I needed him most but I was starting to get a sinking feeling in my gut that something was _really_ wrong.

I peeled my eyes away from the window - we were finally getting off of the highway and were entering a weird path that led to an area of foliage - and looked down at the bag at my feet. I remembered shoving my phone into my backpack and - as quietly as possible - I unzipped it and fished around for my phone.

I pulled it out and looked at the time - _6:04 PM._

I scrunched my eyebrows together in confusion - getting a weird look from Percy as he looked at my phone from over my shoulder - as I was utterly baffled by how fast time had flown!

The van was slowing down, gravel crunching beneath us as we entered a small, abandoned-looking parking lot in the middle of a weird forest. I still had a bad feeling in my gut as my eyes flitted to the corner of my phone's screen.

 _No Wifi_ _...perfect._

My screen suddenly went black and I realized that my phone had just died...again.

 _Double perfect._

I cursed silently and swore that if I ever made it out of this situation alive I would beg my dad for a new phone.

* * *

 **Percy's POV**

"We've arrived at our destination", Principal Chiron said, turning off the ignition as he unbuckled his seat belt. I unbuckled mine in a daze as I was more focused on the bizarre look Annabeth was giving Principal Chiron right as he hopped out of the van and opened the door on her side of the vehicle. Annabeth kept staring at him as she said with an even tone of voice, "I'm not getting out of this car until you tell us where the _hell_ we are."

I smiled at the fact that Annabeth had found her voice first - as I had no doubt she would - and Chiron matched my grin as he said, "As I said before, I promise to explain all in due time, Miss Chase. Until then, I'm afraid if we don't get inside soon we may very well be late for dinner."

At the sound of the word _dinner_ my stomach rumbled. I hadn't eaten since breakfast at the hospital and, while the mention of food after the events of the past hour sounded foreign at best, I couldn't stop myself from murmuring with a hoarse voice, "I could eat."

Chiron smiled even bigger as Annabeth made an exasperated expression, unbuckled her seat belt and - warily - slid onto the pavement that surrounded us. I hopped out of the car from her side and did a 180 as I surveyed our surroundings.

We had got off of a long dirt-and-gravel trail and parked in the middle of an abandoned-looking parking lot. Hundreds of humongous trees surrounded the empty lot and, if it wasn't for the orange glow filtering through the gaps between the trees, it would've been hard to tell what time it was.

I knew it was around 6 in the evening judging from the light of the sun setting on the horizon and the fact that I had seen a glimpse of the time from Annabeth's almost-dead-phone minutes before. I numbly wondered how my mom was going to react once she found out what had gone down at the hospital - how her son's attacker had committed suicide and her son was driven away in a weird black van by his sketchy high school principal with his best friend right by his side.

 _Best friend._

The words rang hollow in my head: Annabeth suddenly felt so much more than just a _best friend_ now that she had saved my life. Granted, she had saved my life once before - when I had called for help on that dark night whilst being suffocated to death - but something about this time - how she seemed to have torn through half the city, picked a lock and witnessed her boyfriend inject himself with some fatal poison and die - made the term _best friend_ seem so weak to describe our relationship.

Not that our relationship was the biggest thing on my mind right now, as Chiron quietly led us into a strange-looking concrete building that I could've _sworn_ had not been there before when I had numbly surveyed our surroundings. I turned to Annabeth - as I kept finding myself doing - and she had the same perplexed look on her face, suggesting that I wasn't going crazy: the building _had_ just appeared out of nowhere.

Or maybe we were just so filled with shock and grief that we were _both_ going crazy.

Either way, the building loomed ominously in front of us as Chiron unlocked the bolt on the door and shoved it open with a grunt. He turned to look at us and gave us a knowing smile before disappearing into the dark corridor, giving us no choice but to follow.

* * *

We had snaked through a long, dark corridor - the feel of Annabeth's hand in mine and the sound of our shallow breaths being the only indicator that I had not in fact passed out (yet) - before Chiron stopped to unbolt and open yet another door. I dazedly put up my aching right arm to shield my eyes from the sudden light coming from the next room and, after Annabeth had gone through the doorway, dragging me along with her, I instantly felt my jaw go slack and my eyes widen as I gazed upon our new surroundings.

We were in a _massive_ room _filled to the brim_ with people. The sound of everyone's chatter and laughter pierced my eardrums and bright lights danced in my vision. The amount of movement in the room caused me to have trouble focusing on one thing at a time: there were people climbing huge walls with stone handhelds, cutting and gluing paper at a table in the far back of the room, even people _fighting_ in a sectioned-off part of the center of the warehouse that I _assumed_ was an arena. As I looked at the two people going at it in the ring, I saw that they not only seemed to be fighting in hand-to-hand combat but that they also had freaking _swords_ strapped to their backs - one of the guys went to release his from the scabbard before being met by the other guy's sword with a clash of metal.

 _What is this?_ I thought as I turned my head to look at Annabeth. Her slack jaw and impossibly wide eyes made for a very un-Annabteh-like expression and I would've busted out laughing if I wasn't so confused, tired and hungry.

"This way, children", Chiron beckoned us forward, probably sensing that if he didn't say something, Annabeth and I would've been here all day just taking everything in (he wasn't wrong).

We followed him in a daze, walking through the crowds and crowds of people to a circular platform that sat in the middle of the warehouse right next to the large arena. The sounds of swords clashing, pained grunts and friendly taunting were even more prominent as we got closer and, as I got a better look at the two guys fighting, I realized that they couldn't have been older than 16 - they were my age!

I took a better look around at the people we were passing and realized they were all teens like me and Annabeth, some of them looking at old as 17 and as young as 12!

 _What is this place?_ I wondered again, this time in horror. Was it some mafia recruiting kids and teens to do their bidding? A secret government organization that hired teen agents? Something even worse? My pulse quickened as I numbly wondered what Annabeth and I had gotten ourselves into when we walked through that front door and a phrase Luke had used just an hour before as we fought in that hospital room kept playing over and over in my head:

 _Kronos's Army._

Could _this_ be what he was talking about?

I desperately wished I could talk to Annabeth without Chiron overhearing us as we stepped onto the large circle in the floor. As my aching feet hit the wooden platform, it suddenly started to move _up_ like a huge car jack, making it's way towards the ceiling. Except, after looking up, I realized that there _was_ no ceiling in this part of the room. It was as if a giant circle had been cut out of the ceiling, giving this strange elevator just enough room to take us to the second floor.

Right before the ceiling seemed to swallow us whole, Annabeth and I stood - still holding hands - and watched the overwhelming amount of people going about their business below us disappear before our eyes.

* * *

 **Annabeth's POV**

I thought I couldn't have been more in awe than when I tore through my first historical fiction novel in 3rd grade and the library became my favorite place to go to or when I visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art for the first time in the 5th grade and fell in love with all of the history.

For once, I was wrong.

Following Chiron into that warehouse and watching all of those people - all of those _kids_ and _teens -_ was beyond mesmerizing. Something about how they all seemed to coexist so harmoniously took my breath away. It wasn't like at school where every high schooler always seemed to be at each other's throats. It wasn't like at home when my stepmother always glared at me from across the room or when my dad gave me a nervous smile like he was afraid I was going to run out on him any day now. It was like everyone here was so _used_ to each other in a way that caused them to get along so beautifully.

Like a _real family._

As I scanned every work station that had crowds of people gathered at it, I noticed that there were some _odd_ activities that these kids and teens were participating in, shattering any thoughts I had of this just being some normal secluded community college, some normal _anything._

Past the somewhat-ordinary activities - like the "Craft" section where people cut and glued pieces of paper into elaborate paper sculptures or weaved colorful and intricate designs on a loom - there also seemed to be a place for people to _climb the walls_ using measly stones embedded into the drywall as hand- and footholds as well as a section where people seemed to be hammering pieces of metal into _weapons_ \- the sound of metal on metal being drowned out by the hundreds of voices echoing off of the large ceiling.

Except, I noticed as we came closer to a strange sectioned-off circle in the ground and looked up, there seemed to be a _huge_ circular opening in the middle of the ceiling, letting even more voices from upstairs filter down towards the ground floor.

 _Strange design choice,_ the architect in me thought. With a startle I realized that we were actually about to _go through_ that huge hole in the ceiling when the platform below us suddenly started to move _up_ _._

At this point, the architect in me was going crazy at the ingenuity of this futuristic-yet-minimalist style of an elevator. However, other thoughts filtered through my head as I finally caught a glimpse at two Percy-age guys who were _sparring_ and _sword-fighting_ in the middle of a large arena.

 _What if this is where Luke came from?_

 _What if this is what he meant by "Kronos's Army"?_

 _What if Chiron is working for Kronos?_

 _What if-?_

My last thought dissolved once we entered the second floor - although _floor_ was a huge understatement.

The room was longer than two football fields and wider than the Globe Theater (trust me, I've _been there)._ There weren't nearly as many people upstairs as there were downstairs but, as we stepped off of the circular platform and onto the tiled floor, I noticed that the architectural-masterpiece-of-an-elevator was already moving back downstairs to pick up more people. The twenty or so teens that _were_ upstairs were seated at some of the _many_ large round-tables that were organized row-by-row down the length of the room.

Overlooking all of the tables and chairs was an enormous stage with a microphone, a large table and several chairs. In one of the wooden seats on the stage, sat a stocky guy with a beard who glared at us with suspicion, causing me to squeeze Percy's hand a little tighter as Chiron led us to an empty table towards the front of the stage.

"Now normally we make it a rule for everyone to be seated based on their heritage and that no boy or girl may sit alone together", Chiron said hurriedly as the hoards and hoards of people coming upstairs became more noticeable, "but due to the circumstances in which you both have just escaped, I'll allow you to sit and eat together for the night", he smiled warmly.

I opened my mouth to ask a question - one out of hundreds - when Chiron stopped me with the wave of a hand, "I know you both must have several questions for me but I have to ask you to postpone these questions until after dinner once we're all in the comfort of my office. I must be going to make some announcements to the Camp but _please_ try to enjoy your dinner", he said and, before either of us could protest, he was already jogging off to a small set of stairs at the side of the stage.

" _Enjoy our dinner?_ How are we supposed to enjoy our dinner?", I asked Percy, feeling as lost and agitated as ever. The sounds of the dining room - as I assumed this was - were getting pretty loud so I moved my wooden chair a bit closer to Percy as he began to speak.

"I have no idea. But, Annabeth, what _is this place?",_ Percy asked, his eyes widening as he took a look behind me at all the teens making their way upstairs.

"I have no clue. You don't think that this might be...", I said, not wanting to even finish the thought.

Fortunately, Percy finished it for me, "That this might be that army Luke was talking about? Kronos's Army? Yeah, the thought crossed my mind once or twice or three thousand times", he gave me one of his signature smiles and something about it - combined with the fact that I was exhausted and couldn't remember the last time I had eaten - made me giggle. Soon he was chuckling along with me, although the moment was short-lived when he asked quietly, "Annabeth, what are we gonna do if this turns out to be where Luke came from?"

"I don't know", I said, matching his low voice so as not to be overheard (though I didn't think of it as much of a risk considering the amount of _noise_ that surrounded us), "While it makes sense that this is what Luke was talking about, this just doesn't seem like the type of place that would recruit kids and teens and turn them into _murderers."_ , I said, my eyes looking down at my feet as my voice hitched at the words _Luke_ and _murderers._

"What if that's just what they _want_ you to think?" Percy countered, his right hand going to rub his left forearm as if remember Luke's attempt(s) on his life, "What if they make everything seem really cool and fun for the newbies and then, once you join, only then do you realize what you've gotten yourself into?"

"I don't know, _maybe._ Or maybe you've just watched too many spy movies", I said, trying to lighten the mood.

"Maybe. I've learned from the best after all, _Detective Chase_ ", he said, with a wink that made my heart flip.

"Oh, hush", I said, giggling once more.

We fell into silence and the significance of how quiet the room was suddenly starting to become was a bit unnerving as we saw Chiron emerge from a large orange curtain from behind the stage and walk towards the mic.

Just before Chiron started to speak, Percy tapped me on the shoulder, his words jumbling over each other as he spoke in a low voice, "Annabeth, I just remembered something that Luke mentioned. Something about _another_ group of people "wanting us", he said, making air-quotes around "wanting us", "I'm trying to remember the name...Camp Halfsomething. Camp Blood? Camp-", he was cut off abruptly as Chiron's voice _boomed_ throughout the dining hall.

"Welcome campers, young and old, veterans and newly-enlisted! Welcome to _Camp Half-Blood."_

* * *

 **Percy's POV**

I struggled not to give Annabeth a triumphant smile, as she and I - as well as the rest of the Camp it seemed - became enraptured by Chiron's speech:

"Now as most of you may know, today is a pivotal day in history. On this day, fifteen years ago, Camp Half-Blood won the five-year battle against Kronos's Army and saved the nation - scratch that, _the world -_ from the evil clutches of the Army's sinister and infamous leader. It was on this day that the way was paved for future generations to be able to come to Camp Half-Blood and not only be among their true people, but to be able to serve the biggest cause there is - and that is to keep the world safe of ancient dictators such as Kronos."

"Ergo, we stand today with the most amount of Camp members to date and, as a matter of fact, we have among us two very important campers who have been through a great deal in the past weeks - Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase."

A spotlight was cast on the empty table where Annabeth and I sat and we both flinched as everyone gasped and awed at us - two disheveled, confused teenagers who had just been through hell and back.

After the applause subsided and the painfully bright spotlight was taken off of us, I finally felt like I could breathe again as Chiron continued:

"Mr. Jackson and Ms. Chase have been through a lot these past weeks, as they were almost captured and killed by Kronos's Army", Chiron paused as more gasps and murmurs broke out among the audience of teens and kids, some whispering in fury that "this was the last straw" or that "we're headed into another war".

He silenced everyone with a show of hands and went on, "I know what some of you may be thinking: that these are dark times and that Kronos is testing the waters. In this, you would be correct. It is my belief that Kronos is looking for another war, another way to gain the power he's so desperately wanted for centuries. However, after decades of being this Camp's Counselor I must say that he has a mighty foe, indeed. I believe we can stop Kronos, for the world and for our ancestors who worked so hard for our freedom. Let us fight and let us conquer!", a massive cheer went up from the crowds of campers behind us, and Annabeth and I sat awkwardly at our empty table, unsure of whether we should've clapped or made a run for the exit.

After Chiron sat down at his table that was on the stage, food was served. And, by "served" I mean it _appeared out of thin air onto our tables._ Juicy steak, roasted green beans, mashed potatoes, bowls of fruit, spicy chicken wings, you name it, it was on our table. My eyes widened at the sight of so much food and my stomach rumbled as I hastily grabbed a fork and shoved anything in sight into my mouth.

After about half of the table's contents were in the safety of my belly, I finally looked up from my plate and noticed that Annabeth was sitting forlorn next to me, having barely touched her food.

I swallowed my bite of chicken tenderloin and caught her eye, "Sorry, did my awful eating habits ruin your appetite?", I asked, trying to cheer her up.

She smiled fleetingly, "No, you're fine. I know you're hungry. I am too, it's just...", she finished the thought with a sigh and started to pick at her food miserably.

"You're confused? Frustrated? Grieving? All of the above?", I said, shoving another bite of potatoes into my mouth.

"Ding", she said halfheartedly as she took a small bite of green beans, "I just don't get how we're here. _Why_ we're here. I was supposed to study for a Chem exam on Monday. I was supposed to take my SATs and ACTs and start applying to colleges and...now we're _here_ doing _this_ and I can't help but think...", she trailed off.

"You can't help but think about Luke? How he fit into all of this? How _we_ might fit into all of this?", I guessed. She nodded and didn't need to continue for me to know what she meant: she was terrified and confused. How could she not be? I couldn't help but remember Luke's last words from only an hour or two before.

 _Percy, do me a favor..._

 _Don't let Kronos win._

A shiver went down my spine and I jumped slightly at the shock of Annabeth's touch as she patted me on the shoulder reassuringly.

"Don't worry", she said, giving me a brave smile, "We'll get through this... _together._ Right?"

I gulped, "Right", I said quietly. My nerves were suddenly frayed, not only from the thoughts of what came next but from the way Annabeth was looking at me and, I suspected, the way I was looking at _her_. I didn't know what it was: all I knew was that, despite the dirt on her face, the leaves and twigs in her frizzy hair and the tear stains on her cheeks, she was still _beautiful._

Unfortunately, the moment was ruined when a shadow loomed over us and Chiron put his hands on both our shoulders as he said, "Come with me to my office. We need to have a talk."

* * *

We walked down almost the _entire_ length of the massive room before finally turning right down a narrow hallway and entering a large, surprisingly well-lit room. Chiron's office included a large cherry wood desk, a comfy-looking rug on the polished wood floor, and a smallish window on the back wall that let the moonlight flicker onto the stacks and stacks of papers on Chiron's desk. On the walls were all kinds of awards, achievements and _was that a moose head?_

"Take a seat", Chiron said as he sat down in his own chair with a sigh. One moment, there was just empty floor and rug in front of us and then, out of thin air, two large leather armchairs appeared at the front of Chiron's desk, startling me so much that I stepped backwards and almost knocked over a lamp.

Annabeth looked at me with wide eyes and we both sat down, doing so cautiously in case the armchairs suddenly sprouted legs and ran away with us in them.

Despite Annabeth's obvious fear, she bravely rolled back her shoulders, took a breath and slammed her fists on the wooden table making some of Chiron's papers fall to the floor as she demanded, "Percy and I have been in the dark long enough. Could you please tell us what we are _doing_ here? Why have you brought us to this place? What _is_ this place? Who are you?"

Chiron smiled knowingly as if this were all some sort of joke that only he was in on, "I admire your spirit, Ms. Chase. I understand how you and Mr. Jackson are feeling at the moment and I know you have a lot of questions. With that being said, I see no need in withholding any information. As you may have learned from my speech, ' _this place',"_ he said, putting air quotes around the two words, "is Camp Half-Blood".

"Yeah we kinda got that from all your mumbo-jumbo about armies and battles and war", Annabeth said, rolling her eyes, "What we don't understand if _why_ you've brought us here."

Chiron sat back as if puzzled by the question himself. After a moment of silence, he turned to me and said, "Mr. Jackson, do you know who your father is?"

I flinched at the mention of my father. That was the second time he had been mentioned that day in over ten years and I felt confused and startled as I stuttered, "M-My father left my mom when I was baby. I never knew him. What does he have to do with anything?"

"Many things", Chiron replied cryptically, "There's no easy and fast way for me to explain everything to both of you and have you understand. Let's start with who I am", he said, sitting back once more as if he knew this was going to take a while, "My name is Chiron. For three years, I have posed as your high school principal. In reality, I am the head Counselor of Camp Half-Blood where we train kids and teens who are descendants of the Olympians."

I smiled nervously until I realized he wasn't kidding, "You...you mean the _Greek_ Olympians? Like Mt. Olympus?"

Chiron chuckled, "In a way, I suppose you are right. The Olympians are a group of powerful, magical Generals who fought against Kronos and his army over a century ago. For various reasons, many believe that they are indeed the Greek gods and goddesses who have manifested themselves here on Earth."

"Woah wait, _a century_?", Annabeth asked, looking as lost as I felt, "But...on stage you said there was a war against Kronos fifteen years ago."

"Yeah", I said, Luke's last words playing over in my head again, "And who is this Kronos guy anyway, some evil wizard?"

"You're closer to the truth than you may realize, Mr. Jackson. Kronos is, to put it simply, a very powerful being, and a very old one, at that. He's lived for over a thousand years and has planned for most of his life to assert total global domination. He seeks to purge the world of everything good and decent and manipulate every human being to do his bidding. So, yes, you can call him a wizard, of sorts. And he is most certainly _evil_."

I gripped the seat tighter, my hands slick with sweat, as Chiron continued, "The Olympians have also lived as long as Kronos and have worked for that long to stop him from putting his plans into motion. A century ago, the Olympians battled Kronos in the First War. They defeated Kronos's Army but not before the man himself escaped and swore vengeance on the Olympians."

"Fifteen years ago, word had gotten around that Kronos was building his Army once more and that, this time, he was prepared for anything. The Olympians and their new army - the newly-founded Camp Half-Blood - faced Kronos's Army in a bloody five-year-long war. We won by the skin of our noses, but not without consequences: Kronos escaped once more, thousands of lives were lost and, possibly worst of all, most of the Olympians were gravely wounded and were forced to go into hiding. We haven't heard from them since."

"However, despite our lost communication with our betters, Camp Half-Blood is still open to any descendants of the Olympians, where anyone is allowed to train and fight in the battle against Kronos."

There were several moments of silence after this, in which Annabeth and I processed all of this information. My mind was still buzzing by the time Annabeth spoke, "Do you honestly expect us to _believe_ all of this?"

I turned my head towards her, and she looked me in the eye and asked, "Do you believe him?"

My head felt heavy as I shook it with bewilderment and said, "I-I don't know. It sounds crazy but...everything _about_ today has been crazy", I sighed and turned towards Chiron, "Are you saying you've brought us here because you think we're descendants of these Olympian guys?"

Chiron smiled tightly and said, "I don't _think,_ Mr. Jackson. I know. I know both of you are - not just the _descendants_ of two of the most powerful Olympians - but the children of General Poseidon and General Athena."

My ears started to ring in the stunned silence that followed. I swallowed nervously, my eyes glued to the floor as I muttered, "Annabeth's right: this is completely insane."

"Is it, Mr. Jackson?", Chiron asked quietly, "I know it's all a lot to take in and I'm guessing neither of your parents informed you about any of this. About your heritage, your destiny-"

"What destiny?", Annabeth interrupted. I turned my head to look at her for a moment and she looked as wretched and exhausted as I felt, like she was just emerging from the eye of a hurricane.

Like her world was being turned upside-down.

Chiron sighed, "There is a Great Prophecy that has been around since the disappearance of the Olympians fifteen years ago. It talks of seven demigods who will 'raise Olympus'. Now, normally, prophecies are never specific. But, in this case, it speaks of two demigods: a child of Poseidon and a child of Athena. While we do have many children of Athena, Camp Half-Blood has _never_ in its history housed a child of Poseidon. In fact, Percy, you may be the only one."

I sat back in my chair, "What makes me so special? Even if my dad is who you say he is, how does that make me capable, or any of us capable, of defeating some evil wizard and saving the world? We're just kids."

Chiron smiled, a tinge of sadness hidden in his eyes, as he said, "It is because, Percy, of your divine abilities. Your powers."

At that point, I was about ready to storm out of the room in incredulity. I chuckled nervously, "Okay so what, you're saying I'm some sort of superman? What can I do, fly? Does Annabeth have powers too?", I asked, starting to get a kick out of this whole situation, "Annabeth read my mind", smirking as I turned towards her, only to see the dejected look on her face.

"Percy, this is serious", she said looking grim.

"Yeah about as serious as I am when I say I'm gonna do my homework", I said, trying to catch her eye, "C'mon Annabeth, he's crazy! This whole thing is crazy! There's no way any of this is real-"

"And what if it is?", she said finally looking at me. Her eyes were red as if she was holding back tears - and maybe she was - as she said, "What if this _is_ real?"

I sat back, feeling defeated, before I heard Chiron speak up,"Percy, look at me."

I looked up and, before I could react, Chiron reached under his desk for something and water came flying in my direction. I reflexively put up my bandaged arms to shield my face. I opened my eyes only a second later when I felt no water on my hands and I heard Annabeth stumble out of her chair and gasp.

The water was floating in front of my outstretched arms, hovering in mid-air.

I put my arms down abruptly, causing a spasm of pain to shoot through my forearms, and stood up in my chair. As soon as I did, the water fell to the floor, as if time had suddenly started up again.

"What...what _was_ that?", I whispered in shock, though on the inside I was screaming _What the hell just happened!?_

"That, my boy", Chiron said with a smirk, "was your powers in action."

"H-how?", I asked, unsure of how to quantify how confused I felt into one question, "This has never happened before at swim practice. I-I don't _move water with my mind_ when I swim...Water doesn't just do _that_ when my teammates splash water in my face...", I stuttered, the word "teammates" making me think of Luke.

 _Don't let Kronos win._

"From what I can tell, you've never noticed your powers in action before for a few reasons. One, because you were never in any real danger, especially around water. And two, because of something we like to call the Mist. The Mist is a supernatural force that makes people see what they can understand - in essence, it makes them see what they _want_ to see. When both of you entered the vicinity of Camp Half-Blood, you went through barriers that keep the effects of the Mist out, allowing all demigods who roam the Camp to see everything as it truly is, magic and all."

I thought of the armchairs we were sitting in when we came into Chiron's office and how they had seemed to appear out of thin air. I thought of the food in the Dining Hall and even the building of Camp Half-Blood when we had gotten out of Chiron's van.

It wasn't a dream or a hallucination due to exhaustion or hunger.

It was _real._

Chiron continued, "My guesses are, because of your exhaustion, your minds are having a harder time processing the lack of Mist. Once you're settled here, I think it'll be easier to work with your powers because your brains will be used to the presence of magic."

"Wait", Annabeth said, speaking up for the first time in a while, "So you're saying my dad - our _parents -_ knew about all of _this",_ waving her hand to signify what "all of this" was, "and never told us?"

Chiron put up his hands in a _don't shoot the messenger_ way which made me realize how angry and irritated we both must've looked in that moment, "It seems to be that way, yes. Both Sally Jackson and Frederick Chase knew who they were having a child with when they did. They were also aware of the existence of Camp Half-Blood and how it is a place for demigods and descendants of the Olympians, such as yourselves, to live and train and nurture your abilities. The fact that neither of them informed you about any of this tells me that they may have wanted to protect you."

"Protect us from what?", I asked, starting to feel more ticked off by the minute.

"They wanted to protect you from the dangers of being demigods in this modern world", Chiron said, his voice taking on a grave tone, "Enemies - spies for Kronos's Army for example - lurk around every corner. Enemies that would do _anything_ to get powerful demigods like yourselves to join their side - even attempt a murder", he said and - just as my mind went back to Luke once again that evening - Chiron pulled out a thick folder. Annabeth gasped as if she already knew what would be inside (and I'm sure she did) before Chiron slowly opened the folder and, staring back at us, was a black-and-white photo of Luke, his piercing eyes making it feel like he was in the room with us.

As if his ghost was watching us from beyond the grave.

"Luke Castellan, believe it or not, was one of our own here at Camp Half-Blood. He was a son of Hermes, as a matter of fact. Son of the trickiest Generals of them all."

"Why did he do it?", Annabeth whispered, and I was startled to see silent tears roll down her cheeks as I turned towards her.

"We're not sure what drove Luke to defect and join Kronos and his Army. He began to act secretive around his friends and roommates and abruptly decided to go stay with his mother for a while, away from the safety of Camp Half-Blood. Then, we went days, weeks and, before long, _months_ without hearing from him. Months in which, I'm sure, he was communicating and conspiring with Kronos."

"I saw them", Annabeth said suddenly, leaning back in her chair, "This morning...I _followed_ him. I saw him go down this alley and he was talking to Kronos and I _saw them together",_ Annabeth turned towards me and I struggled to keep myself from brushing the tears off her cheeks as she said emotionally, "Kronos gave Luke the poison. He was going to _kill_ you and I just...", she stopped herself as I took her hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

 _We'll get through this_ together _...right?_

 _Right._

Chiron cleared his throat, making the blood rush to my cheeks. However, neither of us moved to let go of the other's hands as Chiron said, "It is my belief that Kronos, being aware of the Great Prophecy, knows that both of you are a threat to his plans. Therefore, he saw the need to get rid of you."

"And he enlisted Luke to do his dirty work since he already knew both of us from school", I realized.

"Exactly. While I did pose as your school's principal initially to keep an eye on the two of you, I stayed these last few months particularly to keep an eye on _Luke_ , who I learned had enrolled at your school."

"I don't think Luke was going to kill Annabeth", I said, remember pieces of my one-sided conversation with Luke back at the hospital hours before, "He made it sound like Kronos only cared about killing me and that, once I was dead, Luke would be free to convince Annabeth to join their side or kidnap her or _something",_ I said, my thoughts getting jumbled at the thought of Annabeth being forced to go with her best friend's murderer.

 _Best friend._

I shook my head to clear my thoughts as Chiron nodded and said, "It sounds like Kronos to only focus on you, Percy, since he probably deems you one of his biggest threats due to, not only your heritage, but your great powers."

The way Chiron talked about me made me feel uncomfortable. As if _I_ could be some great hero capable of saving the world.

Even though I was just Percy Jackson: clumsy high-schooler and NYC Aquarium volunteer.

Chiron clapped his hands together, startling me out of a daze, and said, "Well I suppose I've explained all I can for the evening... which just leaves one last question."

Annabeth and I lifted our heads up at him simultaneously.

"What do you plan to do next?"

* * *

 **Thanks for reading everyone! Chapter 9 will come out very soon (I promise, this time) and after that we'll just have the epilogue to go!**

 **Make sure to check out my TeenInk account (Username: bookworm12120) to read some more of my (original!) stories! :)**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey everyone! I told you I'd bring out Chapter 9 of 'More Than Just Friends' soon, didn't I?**

 **I hope you enjoy this last chapter (not including the upcoming epilogue) and I'd like to thank you for your support on this fanfiction!**

 **Thank you and enjoy :)**

* * *

 **A** **nnabeth's POV**

"What do you mean 'what do we plan to do next'!?", I asked, not caring if I sounded nearly hysterical (as I'm pretty sure I was anyway).

"You mean...we can go home?", Percy asked as if the prospect of going home after all they had been through that day was as foreign as Percy completing all of his homework on time. I looked over at him and felt my heart break a little from the utterly exhausted expression he wore.

"If that is what you both desire, then you may leave", Chiron said, shrugging as if they weren't just discussing the fate of the rest of their teenage lives with him, "I will not force you to stay at Camp Half-Blood. While there are many dangers to going back to your homes unprotected and unprepared to defend yourselves from the likes of Kronos's Army, I will understand if it feels too overwhelming to live at Camp Half-Blood with strangers and fight for a cause that you've only just been informed about."

Percy looked at me, his eyes glittering with hope (and something else that I couldn't put my finger on) as he said in a low voice, "What do you think, Wise Girl?"

I could tell all he wanted to do was get out of there from the way he softly tapped his right foot (a result of both his nerves and his slight ADHD) and from the way he was looking at me as if my word was our final decision. I'll admit a part of me _did_ want to say "See ya" to this place and to Chiron and to everything we had just been immersed in.

But another part of me thought of home - how my dad was always busy with work and how my stepmother seemed to hate me more and more by the hour - and I wanted to _stay_ at Camp Half-Blood. Stay and learn about this new part of my heritage, my identity. Stay and learn about the history of this place and everything it stood for.

Stay and learn how to _fight_ beside Percy... my best friend.

I didn't know how to explain all of this to him but, before I even got a chance to open my mouth, Percy looked at me with silent understanding and asked Chiron, "Could we maybe sleep on it? Like, we could just stay here for the night..."

Chiron smiled warmly and said, "Of course. I imagine you are both exhausted from everything you've gone through today. I'll send for some late-night escorts to your bedrooms", he said as he made a quick call with a small Comm-button on the side of his desk that I hadn't noticed until then.

"Piper McClean and Jason Grace, could you come to my office for a moment? I have two demigods here who need to be escorted to their bedrooms for the night."

 _Demigods?_ I thought, though before I could go far in my thinking, Percy tapped me on the shoulder, startling me out of my daze, and whispered, "Do you wanna call your dad before bed to, ya know, let him know you're still alive?", he asked seriously.

"Yeah", I said, catching myself digging in my bag for my phone only to remember that it had died back in Chiron's van, "We can ask Chiron if he has a phone we can both use", I told Percy, knowing that he'd want to call his mom to let her know what had happened and that he was safe and remembering the fact that Percy no longer had a phone.

"Okay", Percy said, somewhat distantly and I squeezed his hand reassuringly and whispered, "Hey, we're in this together, remember?"

He matched my soft smile with one of his own and my heart suddenly felt like it was going to burst out of my chest.

A couple knocks on the door behind us made me flinch and Percy and I stood up and stared at the two teenagers standing in the doorway of Chiron's office. To the left was a boy around Percy's age and height with blond hair, blue eyes and a serious case of bedhead. To the right was a lithe girl with olive skin, long, thin brown hair and a piercing gaze.

The two teens also happened to both be wearing pajamas - the girl, Piper, was wearing a long floral nightgown and the boy, Jason, wore a PJ set with the Superman insignia printed all over his trousers - reminding me once more of how late it must've been.

"I apologize for waking you two up at such a late hour", Chiron said, standing up as well, "Percy and Annabeth, this is Jason Grace and Piper McClean. They will be your roommates for the night."

* * *

"Hey, are you okay?", Piper asked me for about the hundredth time as we zigzagged through the dozens and dozens of endless narrow hallways to get to our bedroom (seriously how did anyone navigate this place without some sort of map on hand at all times?)

I gave her another one of my (winning) fake smiles and said, "Yeah, I'm fine."

Obviously, I _wasn't_ fine.

It wasn't enough that Percy and I had to witness a death and be taken to a strange warehouse in the middle of nowhere.

It wasn't enough that we had to be told that our lives were a lie concocted by our parents to protect us from the real world.

It wasn't enough that we also learned that we were destined to save said world after only knowing about it for less than an hour.

No, now we had to _split up_ for the night and sleep in the same room as strangers, not being able to know what the other was doing or thinking or _feeling_.

When Chiron bid us goodnight, we were left alone in the dark, cramped hallway with two other teenagers we'd never seen before.

The boy, Jason, was the first to speak up, "Jason Grace", he said, holding out a hand. Percy shook it first, and I followed. Piper introduced herself as well before she said, "Okay, so Jason and I live on opposite Wings of the Camp. We both have spare beds so, Annabeth, you can come with me and, Percy, you can go with Jason." I couldn't help but notice how surprisingly melodious and soothing her voice was despite her obvious irritation at being woken up at such an ungodly hour.

"Wait...oh...so...yeah I guess we have to split up for the night", Percy said, the fact that we had to split up having also slipped my mind.

"Oh...right", I said awkwardly as Percy turned to face me. My eyes felt heavy as I looked into his equally-exhausted-looking sea-green eyes and it was at that moment that I realized we were still holding hands. I nervously laughed as he seemed to just take notice too and, before the awkwardness could reach peak-level in front of these two strangers, I hugged him as hard as I could, the feeling of his injured arms around my waist having not quite left me as Piper and I took yet another right turn and stopped at a door labeled "Wing A".

"'Wing A'"?" I said, feeling more than a bit baffled by the crazy corridors and the strange organization of the rooms, "Huh, I would've thought this place would organize people by their...heritage."

"Oh, that's actually what we're working on achieving," Piper said with a yawn as she took out a brass key from her bra, "The way the bedrooms have been organized has always been a bit strange sooo we're working on ordering everyone by their heritage to have it make a little more sense."

"Yeah", I said with a yawn, "because that makes _so_ much more sense."

"Hey", she said, her voice softening, "I know how you feel. When I first came here...my life felt like it was being turned upside-down. I couldn't think straight for a while but...I _promise_ it gets better", she said, and, somehow, the way her words seemed to flow through me like warm honey made me feel a bit better, if only for a second.

"Thanks", I said with a genuine smile, "You're a pretty good motivator."

She chuckled with a hint of something - nervousness? pride? - before turning to open the door.

But, the second before she turned the key she faced me again and said, "Oh and, just to warn you, it isn't just you and me in these rooms so...don't freak out."

"What do you mean 'don't freak out'?", I said with a chuckle, not fully realizing what she meant until she finally turned the key and, in the midst of bright florescent lights, there came a barrage of screams and squeals. I squinted my eyes and dozens of girls - their ages ranging from 10 to 17 - seemed to appear in front of me.

Their laughter and screaming died down to quiet murmurs and suspicious glares once they took notice of us in the doorway.

Piper grabbed me by the wrist and led me - with an air of protectiveness that sent a wave of irritation through me - to the back of the large room where there were a row of doors labeled from 1-10.

But, before we could reach our door - I assumed it was number 7 - a tall girl with sleek black hair wearing frilly, pink pajamas put her hand out to block us.

Piper stood in front of me - still acting like I couldn't stand up for myself - and said, "Drew, get out of the way."

"Hey, don't be so feisty, Pipes", she said with a devilish smile and a mischievous glint in her eyes, "I'll get out of your way...but _first_ ," she said emphasizing the word with a sudden shift of her piercing gaze in my direction, "I wanna know who the new girl is."

* * *

 **Percy's POV**

" _Perseus Jackson,_ where are you _!?",_ my mom screamed into the phone, her shrill voice causing the ringing in my ears to come back,"You don't know how _worried_ I've been! I got a call in the middle of my shift about some incident at the hospital and the nurses were saying that my son had _disappeared_ and then there was that _awful_ news about the boy you go to school with and so I ran home and must've called you _seven times_ before I realized that you don't even have a cell phone anymore and I-"

"Mom! _Mom!",_ I said, loud enough to get her to stop screaming but not loud enough so that Jason could overhear the entire conversation from the modest bathroom across the large bedroom, "Please, I know you're upset, but _please_ calm down!"

She took a few deep breaths before calmly asking, "Where are you?"

I swallowed nervously. This was part of the reason why I was hesitant to call my mom in the first place. While I knew I must've been worrying her sick what with my disappearance and Luke's death, I was dreading the inevitable point in the conversation in which she would ask me what had happened and where I was and I'd have to tell her everything. Everything about Camp-Half-Blood. About learning who my dad really was - is? - and about my apparent _superpowers._

I'd have to tell her everything and hope she believed me when I wasn't even sure I believed it _myself_.

"Uh...", I stammered, not knowing how I could explain everything in under ten minutes, since that was the allotted time I had been given on this weird "Iris Payphone" that was in every bedroom, "So, uh, apparentlymyhighschoolprincipalisactuallytheconseleurtothissupersecretplacecalledCampHalf-BloodwheretheytrainkidsandteenswhoaredescendedfromtheOlympianstofightinawaragainstthisreallybadguywhowantstotakeovertheworldandLukewasworkingforKronosandhewastheonewhowastryingtokillmebutnowhe'sdeadandAnnabethandI-" I said in lightning-fast whispers, my words jumbling over each other until my tongue started to feel numb.

"Wait, _slow down!_ Percy!", my mom screamed into the phone again, my panicked tone of voice rubbing off on her, "Calm down and start from the beginning. Did you say _Camp Half-Blood?"_ , she asked, and I couldn't tell whether or not she was asking me because she recognized the name or because it sounded like some gang for vampires.

I nodded (like she could see me) as I said, "Yeah. That's where I am. Camp Half-Blood."

There was a long pause and I could _literally_ hear the leather armchair in our apartment's living room that she was most likely sitting in sag beneath her as she sat back in it.

Finally, she said in a sudden calm, low voice, "So I'm assuming Chiron explained everything to you?"

I would've screamed "AH-HA!" into the phone if it wasn't for the fact that I was so dang exhausted and the fact that Jason was in the other room, probably overhearing the entire conversation.

So, instead, I sarcastically said, "Yeah he did. Thanks for keeping me in the know all these years, by the way. Ten out of ten parenting."

"Percy, I-", my mom _did_ sound guilty. I could tell that she was about to explain _why_ she kept all of this from me and, while all I wanted to know was _why_ the secrets - the _lies_ \- the truth was, I _already knew._

From the moment Chiron mentioned the possibility of our parents want to protect us being a reason for them _not_ to explain anything to us, I could instantly _see_ my mom feeling the need to protect me, her only son, from this dangerous part of my life that I never got to know. I could picture her rationalizing every secret, every lie, with the vision of me sword-fighting and killing people and getting injured and maybe even getting _killed._

Even as I interrupted her, I _did_ understand why she did it and I was _grateful_ for it.

But, in that moment, all I wanted was _peace_ and _quiet_ and I was tired of all of the questions, the explanations and the secrets.

I was tired of being in the dark.

Before I could change my mind, I slammed the receiver on the hook in frustration and fell onto the bed that Jason had lent me, getting anything but peace and quiet as my jumbled thoughts tried in vain to sort through the mess that I was in.

* * *

"Sooo, how did the talk with your mom go?", Jason asked casually, though, from the way he said it, I knew he had heard most of it - if not _all of it_ \- from the bathroom.

"Horrible", I said, face-down into a pillow, seeing no need to sugarcoat it, "But thanks for asking."

"No problem", Jason said as I heard the creak of the bed on the other side of the room, "I can't say I understand what you're going through, since I didn't really have any family to worry about me when I came here."

Now _that_ got my attention. I sat up and asked, "Wait, no family?", finding the prospect of being orphaned and alone pretty daunting.

"Nope", he said nonchalantly as if he was merely mentioning that the cafeteria was out of pizza rolls, "Not until I got here, at least. Now, everyone at Camp Half-Blood feels like family", he said with a sheepish grin.

I thought about that for a moment. What if I didn't have family or friends to worry about me? Would I stay at Camp Half-Blood, safely tucked away where spies and enemies from Kronos's Army couldn't find and kill me?

Or would I try to go back to the way things were, when I didn't know about magic and spies and war?

"So, was it hard to get used to it? I mean, being here at Camp Half-Blood", I asked curiously.

Jason pondered that for a moment, his arms casually crossed behind his head (seriously, this guy _radiated_ nonchalance), before saying, "It was a bit hard at first. Learning about the Olympians and getting into the routine of this place but...I don't regret coming here, if that's what you're really wondering", he said, turning his head to me and, when I didn't deny it, he continued, "I actually had a bit of experience with fighting and using my powers from another Camp on the other side of the country: Camp Jupiter", I made an exasperated sound and Jason immediately held up his hands as he added, "I know it's all really confusing but don't worry about it right now. The best thing you can do is take everything slow and deal with learning about things as they happen."

I nodded and asked, "What led you here? Didn't you have friends at Camp Jupiter who would miss you?"

For the first time since meeting him, Jason looked a bit lost and - confused? - before he responded, "It's a long story. The gist is...I lost my memory in some sort of accident six months ago and...I don't really remember Camp Jupiter or the friends that I had made there", he said with a shrug, though his nonchalance looked forced this time.

"Oh, wow. That must suck", I said lamely, feeling bad for prying.

"Yeah, it does. It's like there's a black void where my memories of that place should be. I felt a bit lost when I came here, and everything seemed _wrong_ somehow, like my memories of Camp Jupiter and Camp Half-Blood were colliding. But, hey man, you don't need to worry about all that", he added quickly, noticing my grim expression, "I'm ultimately glad I found Camp Half-Blood. I made some great friends, like Piper and my best friend Leo Valdez, so it turned out okay", he concluded, though he didn't sound so sure of himself, "Anyway, enough about me. What's your story? I mean, I know you and Annabeth have been through a lot lately judging from Chiron's speech at dinner."

I had forgotten all about Chiron putting us on the spotlight back at the Dining Hall earlier, so his question caught me a bit off guard as I laid back down, my hands behind my head, and said with a nervous chuckle, "That's a long story too. In the span of two weeks I've almost been killed three times and my whole world feels likes it's turning upside-down."

"I know it sucks at first, dude", Jason said sympathetically, "but, I think, if you give Camp Half-Blood a chance, you might be pleasantly surprised."

I smiled tiredly at him, "Thanks, man."

"Anytime, Percy. I'll let you get some rest", he said, getting up to turn off the lights, "Just, do me a favor?"

"Yeah?"

"Call your mom back tomorrow."

I smiled as the room was plunged in darkness.

* * *

 **Annabeth's POV**

I sighed heavily before jumping into bed, the warmth of the PJs Piper had lent me for the night engulfing me.

"Sorry about earlier with Drew", I heard Piper say quietly from beneath the covers of her bed from across the room, "She's a brat but you shouldn't pay her much attention. Especially since you won't be staying in this Wing for long after the renovations. That is," she added quickly, "If you decide to stay at Camp."

I sighed again from frustration, though it had nothing to do with Drew's interrogation earlier - how her eyes seemed to bore into me or how her words seemed to hit me life a knife to the gut. It didn't even have much to do with my latest phone call with my dad, in which he had yelled at me over the phone for leaving him in the dark for almost seventeens hours but, in the end, had all but _begged_ me not to stay at Camp Half-Blood. Before, I could argue with him - saying how he had kept _me_ in the dark for seventeen _years_ and that I was old enough to make my own decisions - my time on the "Iris Payphone" had run out and the call had been disconnected, making me feel as lost as ever.

"I honestly don't know what I'm going to do, Piper", I finally said, "I don't think I've ever felt so... _lost_ before."

"I get what you mean", she said with a sigh, "When I first came here I was so _confused._ I didn't understand anything, I thought I was going crazy, and it was only until after I learned about my powers and my...heritage...that things started to make a bit more sense."

I chuckled tiredly as I finally sat up in bed and Piper matched my movements as I said, "I've actually been wondering, what _are_ your powers?", I asked, though as soon as I saw her expression, I immediately added, "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"No, it's okay", she said with a nervous smile, "It's just...well, my power is Charmspeak", she said, and when she saw my confused expression, she explained, "It's like this hypnotic ability to use magic in your tone of voice to persuade people to do whatever you tell them to."

"Wow, that's...impressive", I said, not knowing what else to say about that. When she explained, I couldn't help but think back to our talk in the hallway, when she was reassuring me about being at Camp Half-Blood: how her words seemed so _soothing_ and how her expression got weird when I told her she was a good motivator.

"I can't control it all that well, actually. Like, sometimes when I talk to people, I don't mean to use it. Sometimes it just _happens_ and I end up persuading people to do something or think something or _feel_ something without meaning to", she eyed me as she said all of this and I could tell she was also thinking back to our conversation in the hall.

"It's not a big deal", I said with a shrug, "This whole day has been so crazy, nothing really seems surprising anymore."

She chuckled darkly, "Trust me, I know _plenty_ about surprises. But...despite all of the confusion and frustration of coming to Camp Half-Blood, I've come to like it here. I met people like Jason, whom you met, and this other kid, Leo Valdez," she said with a wild grin, "Even though I also happen to live in the same Wing as people like Drew, I've learned to deal with it. It really _is_ nice here, and, if you give it a chance, I think you'll come to agree with me."

"Are you using your Charmspeak now?" I asked jokingly.

She seemed to take the question seriously, however, as her eyebrows furrowed, "I don't think so. You never know with this thing, though. I would never intentionally use Charmspeak on my friends without their permission, just so you know. That is," she said with a sheepish grin in my direction, "If you wanna be friends?"

I matched her smile. The idea of making a new friend from this whole mess-of-a-day seemed comforting.

It was comforting to know that I'd have a friend, no matter what decision I would have to make in the morning.

"I'd like that", I said and, after she yawned and we bid each other goodnight, I felt something that I hadn't in in a long time as the light of the lamp in between our two beds dimmed.

I felt _hopeful_.

* * *

 **Percy's POV**

"See ya later, Percy", Jason said as he grabbed his bag and headed out the door with a wink, as if he were in on some sort of secret.

And, in a way, he was, though that wouldn't last for long, I thought as I waved goodbye to him from the bathroom, spitting out the toothpaste in my mouth before going to sit down on my bed so I could tie my shoes.

After getting ready, I took a good look around the empty bedroom, feeling lighter than I had in days as I went to meet Annabeth for breakfast.

I had done Jason that "favor" he mentioned the night before and called my mom to apologize for how I had acted on the phone hours before. As soon as I got up, I raced to the Iris Payphone, still feeling groggy, and anxiously tapped my foot as I waited for her to pick up. The guilt of acting so rashly the night before stuck with me throughout the night and I ached to do the right thing and make up with my mom before I told her my decision.

I was so relieved when she said, "You had every right to be angry with me, Percy. I kept such a big secret from you and I'm sorry for that."

"It's okay, Mom. I understand why you did it and, in a way, I'm kinda glad you did", I said with a smile that she couldn't see, "But, can you promise me something?"

"Anything, sweetheart", she said, heat rising to my cheeks from the name.

"No more secrets."

She promised and, before the allotted time for the phone call could run out, we hurriedly discussed the decision I had made that morning.

The decision that I was about to discuss with Annabeth.

I walked through the crowds of people making their way towards the Dining Hall. The narrow hallways were cramped and I felt a bit claustrophobic as I was sandwiched between two, similar-looking tall guys wearing mischievous grins (who I assumed were twins) and a tall, muscular girl with a scowl etched into her face.

The one good thing about the crowds though, was that I wouldn't have to waste time trying to find my way through the twists and turns of the hallways.

After walking for about fifteen minutes, I finally saw a large area of light at the end of one of the hallways and got spewed out of the crowd into the huge room that was the Dining Hall. I turned my head from left to right, feeling a bit overwhelmed at the prospect of trying to find Annabeth in this huge room, my gaze shifting to every blonde girl that passed by.

But, before I could fall to my knees from the dizzying amount of voices and laughter that echoed off of the walls, I remembered what Annabeth had said the night before at dinner:

 _We'll get through this_ together _...right?_

 _Right._

Her reassuring voice filtered through my jumbled thoughts and I instantly knew where to look for her.

I pushed past people who were lined up at some sort of buffet table - that I hadn't noticed was there last night - and caught sight of her at the very table where we dazedly ate our meal(s) hours before.

I abruptly slowed down at the sight of her: her freshly-washed blonde hair was pulled up into a ponytail and she wore an orange shirt that I had noticed a lot of people around here wearing (maybe it was some sort of uniform?) as well as skinny jeans and the owl earrings she had been wearing the day before.

She smiled when she caught sight of me and I smiled and waved back, forcing myself to move forward as I wondered what I had just happened to make me stop in the middle of the crowded room after catching a glimpse of her.

After all, it was just Annabeth.

 _Annabeth._

I shook my head and jogged over to our table as I greeted her, "Morning, Wise Girl."

"Morning, Seaweed Brain," she said with a playful grin, "Sleep well?"

I wasn't sure if that was a rhetorical question or not. I didn't feel all that rested - having apparently only slept five hours before getting up to call my mom and shower - and I didn't think I _looked_ all that rested, as I had looked at myself in the mirror after getting dressed: my eyes were red and had dark circles underneath them and the injuries on my arms _ached_ from everything that had happened the day before.

I replied truthfully with a grin, "Not really. Did you?"

"Nope", she said, although she sounded pretty chipper for only getting about five hours of sleep, "Wanna grab some food from the, um, buffet table and then we'll talk?", she asked pointing to the hoards of kids and teens lined up for breakfast.

"Sure", I said and we made our way to the lines of people, grabbing plates and utensils along the way.

After about half an hour of waiting, we finally got to our tables (unscathed) with a decent-sized breakfast. I shoved down my three hard-boiled eggs and pancakes before Annabeth looked up from her breakfast and asked, "So, did you make your decision?"

I swallowed my glass of orange juice and looked up at her. Her storm-grey eyes that never failed to captivate me looked determined and...something else. She looked expectant and, maybe, a little afraid. As if she was afraid that we'd made different decisions.

Or maybe that was just my own fear.

"Yeah, I did", and, after sensing her hesitation, I took her hand in mine and squeezed it reassuringly, "Together, remember?" I said with a small grin.

She nodded her head and smiled, " _Together."_

I could feel the gazes of other teens seated at the tables around us, and I could tell that we were probably breaking a few rules by sitting at the same table.

I didn't care, though. Somehow, Annabeth's hand in mine, her eyes looking into mine, felt _right._

Right in a way that I wouldn't end up understanding until later.

A few moments passed before the shadow of a man loomed above us and a wave of deja-vu went through me as Chiron said, "Good morning, Mr. Jackson and Miss Chase. Could we talk in my office for a moment?"

We nodded and got up from our table, the gazes of the kids around us following the three of us as we left the room and went through a familiar set of hallways (though they all looked pretty much the same to me) before stepping into Chiron's cozy office once again.

"I hope you two had a good night's rest. Did you both get a chance to call your parents?", he asked as he sat down in his chair.

I nodded along with Annabeth as we both took our seats.

"Did you talk to them about your decision?"

I nodded and noticed that Annabeth hesitated before nodding too.

Finally, he asked the question we'd all been holding our breaths for, "So, what will it be, children?"

I looked over at Annabeth and realized, with a bit of a jolt, that we were still holding hands. I smiled at her and she smiled too and, it was in that moment, that I knew we'd both made the same decision.

Hopefully, it was the _right_ decision.

I took a deep breath before answering, in unison with Annabeth:

"We're staying."


	10. Epilogue

**Hey everyone! This is the last chapter of 'More Than Just Friends"!**

 **Thank you so much to everyone who supported this fanfic (remember to check out my other social medias!) and I sincerely hope you enjoy this conclusion :)**

* * *

 _ **3 Weeks Later...**_

 **Percy's POV**

The wind breezed past me as I made my way through the trail in the Southern Woods that was just outside the Camp Half-Blood building. The fresh air felt good and, as I stepped off of the trail and sat down on the wooden pier that overlooked Canoe Lake, I could hear locusts starting to buzz in the trees over-top.

Summer had begun.

I put my head back and let the cool gusts of wind blow through my hair. Almost three weeks of being cooped up inside was starting to catch up to me, which was why I had decided to take a little break and enjoy the outdoors.

Of course, I wasn't going to appreciate the peace of the forest and watch the beautiful sunset that was about to happen all by myself.

I had asked Annabeth that morning if she wanted to take a walk with me in the evening to relax and catch up. After all, we had barely been able to talk past the simple "Hi"s and "See you later"s over the past few weeks and I thought that, since today was more of a chill Saturday at Camp Half-Blood, we could take advantage.

Luckily, she said yes.

I smiled at the thought of Annabeth - her laugh, her voice, her wit - but it was more of a wistful smile than anything else.

I snickered: a few weeks ago, before we had been sucked into this world of magic and demigods and war, I wouldn't have understood what the wistfulness in my smile and my thoughts of her meant.

Now, however, I _did_ understand.

And I still wasn't sure how I should feel.

"What are you smiling about, Seaweed Brain?", I jumped at the sound of her voice from behind me. I craned my neck and saw Annabeth above me: her loose blonde curls framed her face and she was wearing an orange Camp Half-Blood T-shirt, jean-shorts and her beat-up converse shoes.

My heart _thumped_ at the sight of her smile.

"Nothing at all, Wise Girl," I said with a nervous chuckle.

She raised an eyebrow as she crouched to sit beside me at the edge of the pier, "Oh, really?", she inquired but, before I could think of some excuse, she laughed it off and said, "So how have you been, Percy? We haven't talked in _days_!"

I smiled at the sound of her laugh and said, "I'm good. Tired. Confused. But what else is new?"

"Same," she chuckled, "How's your training been going? Have you mastered the ways of waterbending?"

"Hey, it's not _waterbending_ ," I said, although I couldn't think of a better way to describe it, "But my training's going well. Oh, I can do this!", standing up to show her. I put my hands out and focused on the water in front of me. Almost instantly, millions of little water bubbles flew up into the air and, as I put my hands closer together, the bubbles combined to form one big water droplet floating in mid-air.

"Woah!" Annabeth said, "Pretty good."

"Yeah?", I asked, "Watch this." I raised my right hand above my head and the giant glob of water flew up into the air until it was a mere dot in the sky. I sat down and smiled at Annabeth's raised eyebrows before the water droplet fell back into the lake with a _whoosh_ and water splashed onto the wooden dock (and us).

Annabeth laughed at the sudden contact of the cold water and said, "Okay, show-off, that _was_ pretty impressive. Way more impressive than my 'powers'," she said making air-quotes, "Which consists of an abnormally high reading level and the ability to solve riddles quickly. _Amazing,"_ she said with a joking smile, but I knew she was actually pretty bummed out.

"Hey, reading is cool!", I said lamely, trying to cheer her up, "And I can't even solve a 100-piece jig-saw puzzle. You can do it in, like, 5 minutes."

"True", she said with a laugh, "How's sword-fighting?"

"Pretty good, actually! The swords we used at first to practice were pretty heavy but I picked out my own sword, Riptide, a week ago so now it's becoming a lot easier to use the different sparring techniques we're learning", I said thinking of the pen-sword in my pocket, "What about you? Have you picked out a weapon yet?"

"Yup", she said digging in her backpack, "I'm learning to use a dagger. Generic, yes, but it works", she said holding up a bronze knife with a leather handle. The blade gleamed with the light of the setting sun and the leather grip made it look ancient and...powerful.

"Woah," I said in genuine awe.

Annabeth smiled as she carefully placed it back in her bag and asked, "Is your sword back at Camp?"

"Actually," I said, digging into my pocket and holding out the ballpoint pen, "This is my weapon."

She smiled and said, "Ha-ha, very funny."

I stood up and, smiling mischievously, uncapped the pen. It instantly grew into a 3-foot-long double-edged sword with a bronze blade and leather hilt. I laughed at the sight of Annabeth's shocked expression and, as I held it up to the light, the blade glowed a deep red-orange.

"That's _incredible_!", she gasped, "Awesome powers, awesome weapon...Percy, if you're not careful you may very well become the best demigod warrior in _history_!"

I chuckled as the sword reverted back to pen-form, "Hm, I'm pretty sure Hercules holds that title", I said, sitting back down beside her, "But, thanks anyway."

She smiled, "How's your mom?"

I thought of the conversation my mom and I had just that morning over the phone: I updated her on my progress in training and what we were learning at Camp Half-Blood and she tried to keep the conversation somewhat normal by talking to me about how she was thinking of quitting her job at the candy shop and taking up a career of writing.

"Go for it, Mom! You'd be a great writer," I said honestly, although I was starting to get nervous since we were getting close to the end of our time restraint for the day. I still had _so_ much more I wanted to say to her and, since this was pretty much the _only_ time each week I had time to call her, I tried to cram as much information into each call as possible.

"Thank you, Percy," she said softly, "Are you making friends at Camp?"

I found myself thinking of Jason Grace, Leo Valdez, Nico di Angelo and all of the other friends I had made around Camp. I nodded automatically and said, "Yeah, I have. There are a lot of good people here and I'm somehow more popular here than I _ever_ was at school."

"That's great," was all she said, and I knew she was thinking of the possibility of me, one day, going back to finish high school and attending college. I'd told her before that I wanted to stay at Camp Half-Blood for a while before thinking too much about my future but it was obvious that she wanted me to at least get my diploma.

And maybe one day I would.

I heard a _beep_ in my ear that meant the ten minutes we were allowed per day was almost up. I had questioned Chiron on multiple occasions about how stupid it was that we were allowed so little time to call our friends or parents and he always responded by saying that it was dangerous for us to use too much technology since it might give off our location to Kronos and his Army.

I still thought it was a stupid rule.

"I love you, Percy and I'm _so_ proud of you for how you're handling...all of this," she said fiercely as she heard the time warning too.

"Thanks, Mom," I said, my cheeks reddening a bit, "I love you too. I'll call you again soon, okay?"

"Whenever you can, darling. I'm guessing you won't be able to call next weekend?", she asked, referring to the fact that, next weekend, I wouldn't _be_ at Camp.

"Oh, right, yeah I can't, I'm sorry," I stammered, momentarily forgetting all about the super important trip me and several other demigods were supposed to take across the country.

All the way to a place called Camp Jupiter.

"It's okay, Percy. Just promise me two things."

"Anything", I breathed into the receiver.

"Stay safe and say hello to Annabeth for me," she said and, with that, the line went dead and I was left smiling sadly at the bare wall in front of me.

"She's great," I told Annabeth in response to her question, "She's worried about the huge trip we're taking next week but...she trusts me. She trusts me not to do anything stupid and to stay safe," I refrained from adding _for her, "_ She says hello, by the way."

Annabeth smiled and said, "I'm glad she trusts you to stay safe, although I don't know about you not doing anything stupid," I chuckled and soon we were both laughing together and it was like nothing had changed since the last time we sat down in _peace_ together and laughed at each others' jokes.

Back when we were oblivious to this new world of magic, demigods and war.

"Are you nervous for the trip?" I asked Annabeth quietly. When Chiron had first announced it to the demigods at Camp - about how he was electing six demigods to go on a diplomatic mission to ally ourselves with the people of Camp Jupiter, saying how we needed allies in this time of imminent war more than ever - I immediately became nervous and more-than-a-little self-conscious about going on such an important trip when I was so new to _...everything._

And I could tell many campers agreed with me, judging from their sideways glares and the murmurs that started whenever I walked into a room.

However, Chiron assured me that he thought I was "excelling" in my sword training and "hydrokinesis" (as he called it), but I still couldn't help but feel inadequate and unsettled by being paired up with such experienced demigods like Jason Grace, Piper McClean, Leo Valdez and Nico di Angelo (who - while being an angsty thirteen-year-old boy - still had _much_ more fighting experience than I did).

"A little,", Annabeth answered with a sigh, "I'm nervous about going on such an important diplomatic mission when we're so new to all of this...but I'm also _really_ eager to learn about everything. The politics, the diplomacy, the architecture at Camp Jupiter that I've been studying up on, _everything,"_ she said passionately, and I could tell she was truly excited from the light in her eyes as she spoke.

I chuckled, "Yeah, I'm excited too. It'll be awesome to meet the people at Camp Jupiter. You wonder if they're as friendly as the Campers here...", I wondered, "Speaking of friends, how's Piper and Malcom?"

"They're fine," Annabeth said, staring at the lake in front of us, "Malcom's pretty bummed about not going on the mission since he's also a child of Athena. Piper's pretty nervous about the trip. How are Jason, Leo and Nico taking the news?"

"Oh, Leo's _ecstatic._ All he talks about is how many tools and parts he's gonna be packing and how he's excited to meet "da ladies" at Camp," I said, chuckling at the thought of crazy Leo Valdez tinkering with his gadgets, "Nico seems pretty indifferent...as usual. But Jason...", I paused, thinking about Jason, my first friend at Camp.

Usually he was so calm, cool and collected but lately...

Lately, he'd been reserved and quiet. He still laughed at the jokes Leo or I made at breakfast or smiled when Piper came into the room (seriously those two are _made for each other)_ but I could tell the humor or joy was forced - he was nervous to go back to Camp Jupiter.

Back to the home that he couldn't remember.

"You think he's nervous to go back?", Annabeth said, seeming to read my mind for the millionth time that evening, "Piper told me a bit about Jason: how he lost his memory in some weird accident and wound up here but knows he came from Camp Jupiter. She didn't elaborate though, what do you think?"

"He didn't tell me much more about what happened than you know," I said, thinking back to that night when I had first met Jason - that had been the only time he had bothered to open up about his past, and it was the only time I had pried, "But I think that's probably why he's acting so off lately. Who wouldn't feel nervous about going back to a home you don't even remember?"

"I know right. I can't imagine," Annabeth said, turning to look at me.

Suddenly, my heart felt lodged in my throat: my mind flashed back to Annabeth on the night our lives had changed forever - her messy, twig-filled hair, tear-stained face and the drained look in her eyes - and compared it to the Annabeth who was looking at me now - her determined expression and how the light of the now-setting sun gleamed off of her confident storm-grey eyes. The eyes that stared back at mine.

The only word that came to mind in that moment was _beautiful._

"Why are you staring at me?" she asked with a smile, snapping me out of my daze.

"Oh, no reason," I said, trying not to sound like an idiot, "I just...I was just thinking about how far you've come. How far _we've_ come. Remember how terrified we were that night we came here?"

Her expression turned a bit darker as she remembered _that day, "_ Yeah. We thought we were entering Kronos's Army. At least we were right about one thing: this _is_ where Luke came from," she said, her voice hitching a bit at Luke's name.

We hadn't talked about him in a long time, what with us not being able to talk much in general and the fact that he was somewhat of a touchy subject around Camp - every time I brought him up during conversations with Jason, Leo or Nico, they got quiet, most likely thinking of the guy they used to know before he left and betrayed them all.

To be honest, I still didn't know what to make of Luke: on the one hand, I felt furious by the fact that he had betrayed and hurt so many people by leaving Camp and joining the ranks of the bad guys (not to mention the fact that he tried to _kill me)_.

But, a part of me felt sorry for the guy. He hadn't seemed like _that_ bad of a person around school and, while it was most likely that he had gone to that school just to spy on me and Annabeth, I still couldn't bring myself to believe that it had all been a facade. I truly believed he was a decent dude and that he may have very well been misguided.

Though if he had never gone to the dark side, would Annabeth and I had ever learned about Camp Half-Blood and Kronos's Army?

"Yeah," I agreed with a heavy tone of voice, "Do you ever...miss him?", I asked with a weird curiosity.

She thought for a moment before answering, "Sometimes. I know it's wrong: he tried to _kill_ you! But...I don't know, he didn't seem all that bad before. And he...he seemed to almost _regret_ everything in the end. I guess that's why he injected himself," her voice got more and more strained as she went on and I could tell this was a tough subject for her to talk about.

Before I could think much about it, I squeezed her hand reassuringly and said, "I think you're right. He _did_ seem to regret what he did in the end. He injected himself because he was terrified of what Kronos would do to him if he failed again, but also because he couldn't bring himself to kill me. Or hurt you. Remember what he said before he died? _Don't let Kronos win,"_ to that day his last words had haunted me and it felt right to share all of this with Annabeth.

To reassure her that Luke had realized his mistake in the end and was willing to pay the price for it.

"Yeah", she agreed with a sniff, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand, "And we _won't_ let him win. For Luke and the rest of the world's sake. We'll beat him and his stupid Army... _together_ " she added fiercely, looking into my eyes and I couldn't help but gulp as I nodded in agreement.

At this point the sun was almost over the horizon in the distance - the light orange glow of earlier had transformed into a deep red-orange bath of light that gleamed beautifully off of the still water of the lake in front of us.

I turned towards Annabeth again and jolted at the sight of our still-intertwined hands. She seemed to notice at the same time as me as she chuckled softly.

I chuckled along with her, though with a tinge of nervousness. Without thinking, I started to stand up, "We should probably get back to Camp before they send out the Harpies," I said, thinking fondly of the weird feathered ladies that came out at night to look out for any Campers who were gone past their curfew.

"Oh, right, yeah," she said, sounding as hesitant as I felt as she stood up along with me. However, we both stood there - hands still intertwined - mesmerized by the gorgeous sunset that unfolded before us: the sky was a mixture of reds, oranges, yellows and purples and it seemed to emanate one word from the beautiful display of colors:

 _Hope._

I tore my eyes away from the setting sun and my heart jumped yet _again_ at the sight of Annabeth's eyes staring back at mine. She was smiling softly at me and I couldn't help but match her smile at the sight of her - the way her lips curled up and the way the light of the sunset gleamed off of her blonde locks, dainty eyelashes and seemed to bring a _world_ of color to her confident storm-grey eyes.

Somehow her lips were _inches_ from mine after I resurfaced from my stupor, but, surprisingly, I didn't feel the familiar jerk of my heartstrings or the forming of beads of sweat on the back of my neck or the palms of my hands (okay, that last one is a lie - I hoped to whatever gods above that Annabeth didn't notice or care about the sweaty hand that was interlaced with hers).

I only felt hope and little bit of confidence as we both seemed to come together and melt into one long, soft kiss: our right hands intertwined with my left hand hovering over her waist and her left hand grabbing my shoulder somewhat fiercely.

"Percy", she murmured after we came apart. My eyes were still closed and I was so wrapped up in the ghost-like feeling of her lips on mine and the fact that we had just _kissed_ that I didn't notice the urgency in her voice until she said my name a second time, " _Percy!"_

Before I knew what was happening, my left arm flailed as my eyes flew open at the feeling of open-air below my right foot. Annabeth screamed as we both slipped and plunged into the lake below us.

Cold water shocked my senses and millions of bubbles surrounded my line of vision. I could feel Annabeth's embrace and, without thinking, I found myself mentally trying to form an enormous bubble around the both of us. I didn't know how to do it - or that I _could_ even do it - but, in less than a minute, Annabeth and I were facing each other inside of a _huge_ air bubble in the middle of the lake, completely dry.

She smiled wide and soon we were both cracking up, the laughter coupled with the feeling of just _being_ with Annabeth in that moment lifting all of the lingering heaviness off of my chest.

Still giggling, she wrapped her arms around me and kissed me, this time _deeply._

When she pulled back I smiled and said in a bit of awe, "We just did that."

She nodded fervently as if she couldn't believe it either and whispered, "Yup. Though what did you expect, Seaweed Brain? I told you we'd get through this together, didn't I?"

"You did," I said, my voice still tinged with wonder and something else...

 _Happiness._

 _"Together,"_ I agreed and we embraced again, not pulling away from each other until we safely resurfaced to the top of the lake.

And, while walking home in the light of the stars above us, our hands intertwined contently, I couldn't help but think back to everything that had happened those past few weeks and how it had all seemed to lead up to this.

I guess Annabeth and I were always destined to be _more_ than just friends.


End file.
